Shadow of the Eastern Jewel
by Amigodude
Summary: Is Rock dead? Who will Revy kill? What is Benny up to? What does Eda want? Will Sawyer use the chainsaw? And where is the gold of the Eastern Jewel?
1. Chapter 1

**Introduction: I wasn't sure I had anything else worthwhile after "Gun Punk" and even stated that viewpoint in one of the forums here. So this is something of a surprise for me also. This was done on a whim so I have had to to make some corrections.**

**In "Gun Punk" I introduced a character named Lijuan who was introduced as a transition between the "almost" reality of Chinatown, NYC and the later events in Rei Hiroe's Black Lagoon. She was meant to be as fast, as lethal, as deadly as Roberta, Shenhua, Balalaika and the rest with one exception. She didn't take Revy seriously. It turned out to be a mistake...**

**"Shadow of the Eastern Jewel" is an attempt to work within the constraints of the anime/manga's continuity and the full cast of characters created by Rei Hiroe. All you need to know from my previous story is that Revy's involvement in the death of Aisin Gioro Lijuan, also known as Great White, has some consequences...**

**The events of this story happen between the end of Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise and El Baile de la Muerte.**

**Disclaimer:**** Black Lagoon and its characters © Rei Hiroe**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Bang!**

"This place is almost as good as Club 36 in Amsterdam," shouted Benny with more enthusiasm than Rock could remember as they settled down at the table. Benny pulled out his laptop from the travel bag. "It's got good coffee, space cakes to die for, and _bhang lassi._Oh, and they got wireless. I mean, the atmosphere here blows away Starbucks."

"Roanapur doesn't even have a Starbucks," said Rock sourly and under his breath. He scanned the surroundings of the newly opened G Spot Bar off of Lachada Street with some trepidation. Apparently while he and Revy had been in Japan, Benny had been branching out past the Yellow Flag. Then again the Yellow Flag was only good if you wanted to get drunk, killed or... drunk and killed. Bao was remodelling again according to Dutch.

The G Spot was a franchise of all things, with multiple locations throughout Thailand. Like Hooters in America, they were known ostensibly for their waitresses who came dancing out on the bar tops in skimpy school girl outfits to a pulsing trademarked beat.

But Rock realized with mounting dismay and embarassment that the G Spot clientele was if possible, far far worse than the dead enders of the Yellow Flag.

"Uh, Benny," Rock said tugging at his collar and looking fervently down at the tabletop. "I'm really not comfortable here."

"Why's that? That new guy Sykes loves this place," said Benny looking up from the laptop screen. "Oh, holy crap - it's a roomful of Rocks!"

The crowd packed tightly together for support around the horseshoe bar in the middle of the floor were all Japanese, male, and drunk. One would have expected less conformity outside the salaryman existence of Tokyo, but they were all dressed as if they were on a formal business trip. White shirts, ties and slacks were the norm

"Another _baishun tsua_," Benny dismissed them all with a lazy wave of his hand. "It's Roanapur, what do you expect? Honestly, if you're gonna do the sex tour thing, come here to balmy Thailand - it's considered normal. You know, it's incredible -- I mean, you're here to get drunk, stagger out the door five paces to your left to the Goof Fest and have sick, abnormal sex, but you gotta wear a tie doing it. Weird."

"Such is the fate of middle management," said Rock with a sigh, slouching in his seat. With the luck he had, right about now someone from Asahi Industries would stagger over, recognize him and then puke on the table.

"Anyway, to business," said Benny raising his voice over the rising din. "Look, this is important, I've been giving this a lot of thought." His fingers drummed impatiently on the table, "damnit, I'm not getting wireless. Hold on."

Rock sighed again and flinched as the crowd around the horseshoe bar went into a frenzy. Three young girls had just come gyrating down the bar dressed in the trademark schoolgirl outfits, the white shirts hiked up to display their toned midriffs. It wasn't even eleven o'clock. Eleven o'clock on a Saturday morning He hated Benny for getting him up so early on the weekend.

He scanned the floor again, a habit he had picked up from Revy. "Always scan," she had said. "Go left to right and then back, and blink - don't stare - look for what's wrong, what's outta place. It will keep you alive."

"That sounds good, but you haven't looked up from that whiskey you've been nursing all night," he had said in response. Surprisingly, Revy had taken it well.

"I'm supernatural, Rock-baby," she had sniggering, "I don't need to fucking scan. You do."

There in the corner, Rock's eyes narrowed. A shadowed alcove behind them he would have missed except three of the Japanese "tourists" had stumbled over there probably on their way to the men's room and were harassing the occupants. These two were definitely out of place.

Both women were dressed conservatively, but outstanding in appearance. One had ivory white skin and hair. The other woman was more classically Asian in appearance with jet black hair. She vaguely reminded him of Shenhua, though neither of the two had the height of the babbling Taiwanese assassin. Right now they both looked rather aggravated at the unwanted attention being paid them.

"Rock, stop it," grunted Benny. "I'm not big on people skills, and I'd prefer you not exercise yours. I'm sure those two can handle themselves. Goddamn wireless." He leaned back in frustration.

"Anyway to business," repeated Benny. Rock groaned. "No, look I'm serious. Usually I don't poke my nose where it's not wanted, but what's next Rock?"

"What do you mean?" said Rock carefully.

Benny leaned forward, steepled his fingers together in a thoughtful pose. "Let me be an ugly American for once. You banged Revy didn't you?"

"That question is not appropriate," said Rock grimly.

"Pfah, don't be coy with me," said Benny. "She get's a sword jammed into her leg, you're on the run - she's jacked up on all sorts of pain killers and she has to ditch the guns to clear Japanese customs. We're talking dazed, wacked out and vulnerable."

"One should not talk so about a co-worker," said Rock. "You sound like Eda."

"And I'm sure Eda's giving her the shakedown right now," said Benny. "That nun should work for the National Enquirer or the CIA. I'm betting she really does work for one or the other. But you're avoiding the question."

"Which is?" said Rock, determined not to understand. The Japanese men harassing the two women were getting louder.

"This can't last," said Benny seriously. "We can't keep scraping along day to day with the garbage Hotel Moscow or the 14K Triad toss us. That works for Dutch maybe but at some point if we don't get out of here we're going to die, probably in a painfully original way. We have to think beyond. So Janet Bhai and I have been working on something."

"Listening," said Rock distracted by the growing tumult behind them. He resisted the urge to turn.

"I got wireless! Woohoo!" Benny adjusted his glasses. "That's not the G Spot access point. You know, I really hate using Windows, Linux is..."

"I'm listening," said Rock in exasperation.

"Dude, it comes down to survival," said Benny frowning, his fingers started dancing on the keyboard. "The gist of it is this, during the nineteen thirties, there was this almighty bitch par excellence called the Eastern Jewel. Think Balalaika, Revy and Roberta all rolled into one. As far as Janet and I can tell, not only did she coordinate the "incidents" that started the Japanese invasion of China back then, she also made off with like the entire contents of the Occidental First Bank of Shanghai. We're talking gold bullion in the max."

"I know about the Eastern Jewel," said Rock shortly. "And most of her exploits are fictional. She never did as much as the stories claimed."

"Yes she did," said Benny triumphantly, "and I can prove it. Even better, we know the location of the freighter she sent with the gold to Sarkhan and where it got sunk. Now..."

Several short howls of pain punctuated the air silencing the crowd. Rock and Benny both ducked reflexively as the three Japanese men flew through the air and landed with sickening thuds on the bar floor.

"You see," said Benny cheerfully and somewhat tactlessly in the silence, "never worry about women who are alone in Roanapur. This is what usually happens. They're usually maids, nuns, psycho assassins, or kissing cousins of Johnny Winters. Hello girls!"

The two women glided up to them as if expected, not even the slightest bit put out by the commotion they had created. They were too alike feature-wise to be anything other than twins. The albino leaned over Rock's shoulder and let her ivory hair trail across his cheek. He shuddered as she flicked her pink tinged eyes his way in a sideways glance. Her fingers glided up his spine.

"Benjamin," said the black-haired counterpart. She extended a hand, an object fell to the tabletop. A USB flash drive. "Here is the data you asked for. Consider it a favor."

"Thank you Lucy," said Benny with a smile. "See Rock, I've been busy."

"That's great," said Rock wanly, trying to smile in turn. The fallen men were being helped off the floor by their shocked companions.

"We'll be going now," said the woman who called herself Lucy. "We have a deadline to make, you're not the only couriers serving the Roanapur region.

The albino spoke then, the tone of her voice wavering . "Tell the _yin wa _my aunt remembers her." She removed her hand from Rock's back to his relief. There was something truly unsettling about the woman.

"What the heck was that all about?" said Benny as the two women exited the G Spot. "What's a _yin wa_?" He took the USB flash drive and inserted it into a port on the laptop.

"Chinese: bad girl, sick girl, something like that," said Rock gratefully taking a swallow from his long delayed beer, it wasn't that early after all. A thought struck him, he turned and looked intently at the alcove where the two woman had just been sitting.

"What the hell?" blurted Benny as the laptop screen burst into a display of light patterns, the speakers blaring noisily. "What kind of a stupid autorun did they put on this?"

The large satchel at the footrest. That was all the confirmation Rock needed. He stood up.

"Screw it," said Benny. He made to pull the USB flash drive out of the side port.

"No!" Rock shouted, diving across the table. Too slow.

All the windows of the building blew out as the blast ripped through the open space of the bar.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: ... Hits the Fan**

"_The shot's good. Take it!"_

"_No. We promised. There has to be pain... lots of pain... Then we take her fishing."_

--

"Where's Rock?" said Revy from the pier.

Dutch looked down from the deck, wiping the grease from his hands with a rag. "Went off with Benny, probably the Yellow Flag."

"Damn, this early?" She licked her lips and turned away. Stared blankly out over the bay. The Saturday morning was about as nondescript and shabby as the seagull that listed on the nearest pile of the pier, the waters an oily grey that stretched to the Buddha Mount at the harbor entrance. The _Burakku Ragun _barely moved to the gentle swell of the tide.

Dutch growled softly, rolled the cigar to one end of his mouth. This was Revy's first appearance in three weeks at the dock. She had been laid up, recovering from the encounter with the Yakuza swordsman in Japan. The girl had lost some weight and was favoring the injured leg. It was useless to express his opinion that she had displayed a disturbing lack of sense by engaging in a close quarter duel. In their world, honor was not something to be honored; as Paul McCartney had warbled, _"live and let die." _Amen to that brother.

It made sense that Rock had taken the first opportunity to bolt. Playing nursemaid to an irritable, in pain, bedridden sociopath was on no one's short list. Dutch exhaled, blowing smoke out from his nostrils. The Fujiyama business had definitely caused problems. Even Balalaika had come back moody and irritable.

"I'm working on the engines," Dutch said. "Want to help?"

Revy stretched, the lean muscle of her torso rippling as the black cutoff rose up. "Uh - I'd rather not. If we don't have anything lined up, I think I'll just go. Where's the car?"

"You'll have to call a cab," Dutch said rummaging in the tool-chest he had put down on the boat deck. "the Dodge is still being repaired, just like the building, just like the boat."

She gave him a disgusted look. "You're joking, right? How the hell am I going to pay for a cab? I got nuthin... Can I get an advance?"

"Until we get a job there's nothing to advance," Dutch took out a wrench, closed the lid with a sharp bang. "All we have has been put into repairs."

"Shit." she flicked her cigarette butt at the seagull. Then walked away without a further word.

"Hell is other people," said Dutch reflectively. The engines needed his attention.

--

The analyst kept talking.

"The beauty of this approach is we don't need to install any kind of packet sniffing software at the ISP. Nor is it a rootkit or any kind of detectable software. Someone of his expertise would probably detect such an intrusion and take appropriate measures..."

"That's quite enough. Get out, will you?" interrupted Eda hastily. Yolanda smiled gently and smoothed the front of her habit with the palms of her hands. They were in the "bubble," the underground chamber beneath the church rectory that had been converted into a makeshift electronic surveillance center at the behest of Mr. Ravencroft within the last month.

Eda had misgivings about embedding such intelligence capabilities within the Church of Violence, regardless of whatever "compensation" was arranged between her superiors and Yolanda. However, the worst part had been managing the two analysts assigned by Langley. Neither of them seemed to understand the concept of secrecy and she was going to recommend cycling both of them out of Thailand as soon as possible. In the meantime she had been frantically bringing herself up to speed on the capabilities of the systems.

"I would surmise you've added something special to the pc's," mused Yolanda once the analyst had exited the chamber. "I can imagine it's not too hard to replace a mail order, off the shelf piece of hardware, especially in Roanapur. I'm speculating of course, it's not really my area of expertise."

"Of course," said Eda with a forced nonchalance. "But with Hotel Moscow allowing the RBN to set up a presence in the East." She shrugged, "what can I say?"

"But that's not why I'm here - in the basement of my own building," said the elderly nun. "May I smoke?"

"No," snapped Eda. "Anyway, one of the first things I asked these clowns to do was see if we could monitor our friend Benny of the Lagoon Company. He's always struck me as someone who should be watched, considering his history statewide. And then there was that business with the counterfeiter," here she grimaced and unconsciously touched her neck. "Well, the short of it, we've hacked Mr. Benny's systems; wasn't as easy as it sounds though."

Yolanda blinked her one good eye, waited patiently.

"It appears he has been up to something," Eda continued. "Maybe it's nothing, but there are some red flags coming up on this and I need your input. What do you know of the Eastern Jewel, Sarkhan, the and disappearance of oh, several tons or so of gold during World War II?"

"I'm not THAT old," said Yolanda irritably. "but I do remember the story from some of the old China hands. The Eastern Jewel was Yoshiko Kawashima and she was an absolute lunatic. Before the Nationalists got kicked off mainland China in '49 they executed that bitch for war crimes."

"No one proved if Kawashima was involved in the disappearance of the gold bullion from Occidental First Bank of Shanghai in '38," Yolanda continued. "It probably ended up in the Japanese Imperial Treasury or something. So whatever Mr. Benny's been poking around in, it's probably a wild goose chase. Sounds like he's getting himself scammed by a Nigerian.

"Sarkhan," Yolanda paused, shrugged. "There's nothing. Nothing at all."

"Oh," said Eda, disappointed. "Well, it was more exciting than those phishing scams the RBN's been setting up."

Yolanda stood up, but then paused and smiled. She was looking at one of the screens. "I see you also set up surveillance cameras also for the grounds."

"Seemed like a good idea," said Eda defensively. "Standard operating procedure."

"Your little friend is here," said Yolanda still smiling.

Eda whirled in the chair, "What little, oh crap!"

--

Gaining Revy's rapport, had been remarkably simple. Eda had observed the gunslinger's behavior and then mirrored her every move, characteristics, and personal behavior. Letting Revy take the lead during the incidents involving the Romanian psychos and then the debacle with Janet Bhai had led to a sort of wary relationship. The Chinese girl obviously craved female companionship or she wouldn't have started showing up unannounced at the Church of Violence, claiming she was only there for the booze..

The problem was the stray dog could go violent at the first sign of weakness or duplicity. If Revy had the slightest inkling that all these bouts of drunken _bonhommie _being recorded and crosschecked against Langley and the NYPD Nexus databases... Eda twitched beneath her habit. The nun would indeed be smoking from her forehead.

Revy was limping badly and there were ugly, red scabbed wounds on her right leg. But more interesting was the refusal to meet Eda's welcoming gaze as met at the altar underneath the crucifix, the gaze of the Christ steadfastly turned away from the two delinquent souls. The nun poured a drink of rum and pushed it over.

Revy sat down gingerly, cigarette dangling from her lips. She was seated, legs crossed facing the front door of the church away from Eda, and there was the slightest tinge of color to her cheeks.

_"Might as well just wear a sign," _thought Eda with some annoyance. "W_hat a dumbass. Well, if I'm going to have to put up with this, might as well have some fun."_

So she poured herself a generous helping and sat down flinging her legs up on the altar.

"So... ah... come to think of it..." Eda asked, "How was Japan?"

"Everything was all fucked up," said Revy listlessly. "Almost got killed by big sis, got my leg sliced like a chicken fillet. Cold as fuck too. I ain't goin' back. Do you have anything to eat?"

_"Oh c'mon!" _Eda thought, she leaned forward. "We got rice, but what are you talking about? I'm asking you about Rock! You two were away together for so long. You did it this time right?"

"I don't want to tell," mumbled Revy looking away.

Eda started laughing in spite of herself. The sheer childishness of it all. She saluted Revy with a flourish and downed the shot.

"When it comes to you... Die."

There was a blur of motion and Eda found the barrel of one of Revy's Beretta aimed at her forehead.

'We villains don't die that easily." snapped Revy. Eda stared back, knowing she couldn't show the slightest twinge of fear, the empty glass steady in her grip.

"I ain't telling," Revy holstered the Beretta slowly and then sagged forward onto the table with a glare.

"Hey, hey, hey! Quit acting like a blushing virgin!" Eda blustered, but let the matter go.

_--_

The two women tumbled into the car. The dark haired one slid behind the wheel. The albino whipped around to look out the back window, her red eyes wide. The G Spot Bar was on fire, flames were licking up the sides of the building People were stumbling out through the smoke, one figure slumped to the ground within a few paces. A siren shrilled over the screams of the injured.

The albino huddled up in the seat, foreams tucked up against her chest as the car pulled away from the curb.

"Liling, we really did it, we fucking did it!" the albino began to laugh hysterically. "We smoked the geek and the psycho bitch's lover... Great White would be so proud of us, we've avenged her."

"_Sow deh lar_, Lifeng!" grunted Liling, the knuckles white as she gripped the wheel, screeching through an intersection as a group of orange robe Buddhist monks scattered scattered. "We just woke up this cesspit of a city. We haven't done shit yet. Now hurry up and call that _mo-lan. _'t trust those shit-heads at all.

The albino scrambled for the cellphone. Liling stomped on the accelerate and cut down a side road heading for the harbor.

"Is the other one dead?" shrieked Lifeng into the cellphone. "Can you hear me now? No... I can't hear you. . . What. . . No! . . No! _Oh... Au wui waht lei dui an chut lei yuen hau bai ju hai lei go see fut dau . . . sau yi lnei hau yi geen do au teck do lei go see fut biu C!! Motherfucker!"_

Screaming she threw the cellphone out the window. Liling took a hand off the wheel and slapped her sister across the face.

"What's happening?"

"They totally screwed up," sobbed Lifeng, her white hair covering her face. "I guess the black man never left the boat. They never got a chance to plant the bomb, so they tried shooting him... and they missed. Chen and Wu are dead."

"If you had just let me shoot the bitch when I had her in the sites... one shot, one kill, end of story" said Liling her face set. "But you wanted to do it this way. If Chang finds out we're here, Big Bro and the psycho bitch will be the least of our problems."

"We've got a Thumper in the back seat," continued Liling as she whipped the car onto the waterfront road, "I'll just blow this Dutchie off his little boat. And then we go for stage two of your plan, sis."

--

Roanapur was not a place to let one's guard down. While the Packard engines of the Elco style torpedo boat were original, many of the additions that Dutch and Benny had added were not. Unable to gain access through any of the bolted hatches, the intruders had made for the bridge and set off the infra-red motion array at the bridge back door entry, wired to the ship's horn on top of the chart room.

Dutch had reacted hard and fast, the .44 magnum roaring like an exploding bomb in the confines of the boat. The two leading intruders had gone down together in a heap, their blood pooling on the haze grey flooring of the bridge.

The other three had retreated off the boat deck and had moved back up the pier to where there was relative cover behind a cluster of storage bins. There they laid down a barrage from the Kalashnikovs. The situation had become a standoff.

Dutch could not attack out of the bridge without becoming an easy target, but he couldn't retreat back into the boat down to the fore and aft passageway where Revy stowed the heavy weaponry. The fuel tanks were empty, or he would have simply driven off into harbor waters.

The attackers were likewise pinned down. They had retreated too far and the open approach down the pier would be suicide. The three men were content for now to trade shots with Dutch.

Dutch had no illusions. He understood why Revy moved with such rapidity at the onset of a gun battle; to end it. Every moment that passed was a moment against him. A Kalashnikov coughed, and bullets set splinters flying.

Had either of the crime-lords of the city made the decision the Black Lagoon Company had outlived it's usefulness? The possibility had been considered, if so, then how were the others doing? It couldn't be helped. If Chang or Balalaika had made the decision, then it was the end. They certainly hadn't seen it coming.

Or was this something else? Had their past come back to bite them in the ass? Revy alone had more unmentionables than all the women had underwear on the _Titanic. _an employee, she was a damn liability...

A single car came to an abrupt halt at the still unfinished scaffolding of the new warehouse. Dutch stared aft from the dubious safety of the bridge entry. He shrugged, two women, one black haired – one white haired, made the run up the pier towards his assailants and joined them. They weren't reinforcements for his side. He reloaded the .44 slowly.

The distinctive and familiar boom of an M-79 grenade launcher made Dutch drop to one knee, a futile and reflexive gesture. He bit through the remnants of the cigar, swallowed burnt tobacco. They had missed the first shot. The woman with the black hair was reloading.

Dutch thought quickly, then moved towards the front of the bridge. To the right of the steering wheel was a panel with switches. Where was the one he was looking for? It had never been used before while had piloted the boat...

The bridge split open. Wood shards and glass from the ports blew under and around Dutch from the second grenade impact. He was thrown forward and against the bulwark. His hand swept down and hit the looked for switch on the panel.

The smoke generators embedded in the stern of the lazarette coughed and belched. The stream of sulfur trioxide-chlorosulfonic acid solution made contact with the air creating enormous billows of smoke from the rear of the boat. The U.S. Military may have long discontinued the use of F.S. Smoke, but Dutch had found a Chinese supplier.

"_Ta ma de_!" shouted Liling hoarsely. She stood up brandishing the M-79 in triumph. It appeared she had hit the fuel tanks of the PT Boat. Her men shouted as a figure could be seen staggering through the smoke and flame to make a theatrical plunge into the foul waters beside the boat.

"You got him, you got him!" shrilled Lifeng throwing herself at her sister. They hugged exultantly.

"Enough," shouted Liling breaking from her sister's grasp. Her eyes were dark and satisfied as she saw the ripples spread across the oily surface of the water. There was no movement, no sign of life, "C'mon, we need to get out of here now!"

--

"_Wai?" _.

"_Wai _?" Eda howled, kicking her heels and knocking over the empty bottle of rum. They had just started on the second bottle.

"Eh, you're such a fooking Gah Toy," hooted Revy. "That's _Wai. _know some people think you're one, you sexless soi dog!do you _Wai? _damnit!"

Eda lurched unsteadily to her feet, her face mottled with outrage "Hey, I'm no Gah Toy you bitch! Just for that we're doing a road trip to Pattaya, that's _Wai!"_

Revy fell out of the chair laughing uncontrollably, "You'll never get _Wai _me, except with my Berettas here . . . oh, it must be time for mass or somethin' stoopid."

Yolanda marched up the aisle flanked by the monk known as Rico.

"You must leave," she said harshly to the prostrate Revy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three – Segue to a Murder**

_Ten years ago, Haidho - Sarkhan_

The house was perched on a high promontory overlooking the Bay of Thailand. Constructed of horizontal slabs of white-washed concrete overlaid with a green patina of mold, and long stretches of glass; there was nothing traditional or attractive in it's design. The American Ambassador to Sarkhan of the 1960s had lived there for a time, and had oftentimes referred to the structure as "being designed by Frank Lloyd Wrong."

The air was humid and thick so that the continual stream of ships going back and forth to Bangkok were indistinct in the haze. Occasionally a ship would veer off the shipping lane and head slowly towards Haidho, attracting the attention of the guard on the house porch that jutted out over the edge of the cliff.

A young man, somewhat less than twenty years of age burst out through the arched doorway onto the porch. He was slender, dark skinned, but with features that hinted at mixed ancestry, both eastern and western. He wore blue jeans and a black t-shirt with a Van Halen logo. He was breathing heavily.

"Give me those!" he grabbed for the binoculars hanging from the neck of the startled guard. Then he stood stiffly up against the railing, scanning the horizon. His hand were shaking.

Somewhere in the house behind him there was screaming.

Five minutes passed, the screaming continued, now an off-pitch duet. Two other men joined the guard and stood several paces behind with the uneasy guard. One was elderly, with a white wisp of a beard. The other supported himself on a crutch, his face shiny and taut from barely healed burn wounds.

The elderly man cleared his throat.

"They're not coming, Master Cheong," he said. "Neither Beijing or Taipei know. We're still safe."

The young man, shifted his feet and then lowered the binoculars. "I suppose you're right. Why would they care?"

Cheong turned away from the railing, rolled his shoulders. His eyes were tight, "Could somebody shut those two the fuck up?"

The guard nodded, but before he could act, the source of the screaming appeared. The twins stumbled through the doorway clutching each other for support. Tears streaked their faces. Around thirteen years of age, they were short of height and fine featured. Both bore a familial resemblance to Cheong; but one girl was white haired with abnormally pale skin for an Asian.

Cheong sneered. "The freaks are here," he said. "Ebony and Ivory. Both of you -- shut up, or I'll throw you both over the edge."

The girls stopped abruptly. They both breathed thickly and heavily, met their brother's look with a fixed and unblinking double stare. They continued to hold each other.

"_Ayi's _dead," said Cheong flatly. The albino whimpered, the other's mouth flattened in a thin line. Cheong gestured at the injured man. "He'll tell us what happened."

"Sir," said the man brokenly.

"Just tell it," said the elderly advisor harshly.

The story took time to tell, the account was fractured and unclear, and the older man had to stop and ask the injured man to back up and repeat himself. The twins stood motionless and confused.

Cheong leaned back against the railing and let his attention and gaze drift to look towards the city skyline of Haidho on his left, north of the promontory.

"You're not listening," shrilled the dark haired girl suddenly, cutting off the injured man. They stood in the doorway with the painted but faded yellow star of Manchukuo above them. Cheong's lips twitched in a shadowy smile.

"There is nothing to listen to," said Cheong. "Our _Ayi, _the Great White Assassin got herself barbecued. So much for Aisin Gioro Lijuan. Now I'm the head of the family. Deal with it. End of story."

"We can't even retrieve the body," said the elderly advisor. "We can't let anyone know who she was. From what I understand the Americans will keep her remains in a morgue for a certain time and then bury her. It's a disgrace that she won't be returned to her family, but what can we do?"

"Yeah, what can we do?" said Cheong . "It's a shame, but we must move on from this... disaster. I'm calling a meeting for tomorrow, speak to the appropriate people, that sort of stuff."

"As for you," the smile vanished. "You failed the Aisin Gioro."

The injured man bowed, put down the crutch. He limped to the railing and failing an attempt to climb it, simply rolled himself over the edge. He fell without a sound.

Cheong stepped past the two girls and back into the house. The elderly advisor followed.

The wind picked up, blew their hair together, they were so close. Black and white strands intertwined and were one. They stepped apart but continued to hold hands.

"Promise me," said Lifeng. "Promise me we'll find whoever killed _Ayi._'ll find them and we'll hurt them and hurt them. And then we'll take them fishing just like Auntie showed us."

"I promise," said Liling with youthful sincerity. She grabbed her sister as the albino broke into tears again. "I promise, I promise."

--

_Three years ago, Washington D.C., USA_

"My name is Yoshi Kawashima," said Liling. She sat down in the offered chair and smiled enthusiastically at the senator, her skirt sliding up her thighs as she wiggled about.

"I am so glad you made time for me."

The senator smiled appreciatively, leaned back in his chair for a better look. His office was strategically placed so that the Washington Monument was visible through the window. "You're very welcome young lady. I'm surprised though, if you're representing the nation of Sarkhan; why do you have a Japanese name?"

"My family are what you call expatriates. Sarkhan has taken us into their heart and souls and we have served them likewise," " said Liling artlessly. "We have been a closed country since the Cambodian occupation, but the times are changing. It is so embarrassing that the Asian Tigers are doing so well economically, and we are not. That is why the government asked my brother to engage in discussion. See if we can arrange a meeting at a more formal time and place."

"That can be done," said the senator. The young woman was barely twenty-one, but she was poised and sure of herself. He was impressed, in more than one way.

"Sir, if I could make a personal request ," said Liling at the end of the discussion. She put the card with the hotel address onto his desk. "A close friend of our family died tragically here in the states eight years ago. At the time though, it was far too difficult, with the political situation to arrange anything."

"I'll look into it," said the senator sliding the card off the desk. He motioned to his aide, "what do you want us to do."

"She died in a car accident," said Liling looking up avidly. "In Connecticut, I believe."

--

"We don't want to touch this," said the aide. He handed the report over.

"I remember now," said the senator reflectively. "It was a massacre, big flash in the pan in the news cycle. But the details were never figured out. A robbery gone bad or something. Didn't it end with a multi-car pileup on I-95? Right around where that disc jockey, Don Imus lives."

"It's worse than that," said the aide. "This part was classified: Six Thai ex-military were found dead on adjacent rooftops of the initial crime scene. And at the time it was one of the biggest heroin busts on record. But that's not all; the body this young lady is interested in having returned to Sarkhan was apparently one of the nastier assassin types ever tracked by the CIA. They were not happy with me digging this up."

"Sarkhan has such economic possibilities," said the senator. "This is a major opportunity to get back in now that the Russians are out of the picture in Sarkhan. Let's make it happen for the young lady."

His hand was in his coat pocket, fingers caressing the card.

--

_Three years ago – East Side, New York City, USA_

A night club: pulsing lights, pounding noise. Young bodies jostled the dance floor.

"That was a long time ago Ms. Kawashima," shouted the owner flanked by his bouncers. A petite young woman sat on a barstool, turned towards him. "I'm respectable now, I own a legit biz."

"Sure you do," Liling sipped the offered drink. "Just tell me what happened?"

"Great White was hired at the last moment by the Tongs to take care of a problem," the owner wiped his brow. "It wasn't just that the Vietnamese were trying to muscle in on our territory, it was who they had doing it. Some killer kid. She was gunning people down in broad daylight. Killed like twenty people singlehanded at a funeral in Jersey."

"She?" Liling cried out. She stood up. "It was a girl? A girl killed _Ayi _?"

"Not really sure," the owner. "Almost anyone who knew anything got themselves dead. Except one..."

--

_Two years ago - Port Charles, Texas, USA_

"Not many girls like fishing," said Nguyen Thang. He bent over to open the package.

"Bet this'll gross you out, Yoshi. Catfish love chicken liver, they can smell it a mile away. Sorry, it's not much of a date is it?"

Lifeng curled up on the blanket beside him. They were beneath an underpass in the flat muddy landscape outside Port Charles. It was hot and humid as always, and the clouds were piling up in the late afternoon sky. She had colored her hair black and was wearing contact lenses. "I do not mind. I love to fish," she said, the English too clipped, too precise.

Nguyen cut a piece of liver, put it on the hook and then cast his line into the muddy ditch that stretched in a straight line in either direction. He drove the knife blade into the ground and sat down on the upturned spackle bucket. Lifeng ran her hand up along his leg.

"I really don't like talking about it," he sighed later. He felt totally relaxed with this young woman, she was so attentive and focused. His luck was finally changing. "I blame that girl. We were just playing at being a New York city street gang, even had handles -- I was Sad Eyes -- and then the next thing we know we're being sent out on road crew work."

"What was that all about," Lifeng asked.

"They'd send us out all along the East Coast to rob people," said Nguyen bitterly. "We preyed on our own people. It was bad. I paid for it though; five years in prison. Got shanked the first week I was in and had to be put in solitary. Someone thought I was going to rat. Got paroled on good behavior and came down here. Only job I could get was the night shift at that gas station though."

"Who was the girl?"

"Rebecca, Revy... something like that," Nguyen shrugged uneasily and looked away. "I actually had a crush on her. But there was something wrong about her, just plain evil. I mean, people just died when she was around."

"What happened to this creature? This… Revy?" Lifeng asked, hand tightening on his thigh.

"She has to be dead, they're all dead... please... let's not talk about it anymore Yoshi" pleaded Nguyen Thang, aka Sad Eyes. The fishing line suddenly snapped taut. He stood up, thankful for the interruption, "Oh, I got one!"

"So did I," said Lifeng.

She pulled the knife out of the ground.

--

_LAX Airport, Los Angeles, USA_

"Then they're all dead?" said Liling. She examined her sister's face closely. Something was wrong: The white hair slightly disheveled, a sated unfocused look in the eyes. As if she was somewhere far, far away.

"Mr. Sad Eyes was right," Lifeng said abruptly to Liling as they entered the terminal at LAX for the flight back to the Philippines, and then Sarkhan.

"Catfish do like liver."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four – Bad Rebecca Hunting**

_Six Months ago, Haidho, Sarkhan_

"...want you to come to Bangkok and work for the business," said Cheong in Chinese, adjusting his tie. "We're going to diversify, open up a chain of restaurant bars all throughout the tourist resorts on the coasts. You can help with the accounting so I can hide where the money's really coming from. We'll call it the G Spot Cafe."

He stopped pacing and glared at the great white shark mounted on the back wall of the living room, the glassy eyes were filmed over with dust – some of the teeth had fallen out. A gecko, a live one, was perched near the fin and staring back at him.

Liling looked down as was proper for a Sarkhanese woman. She was seated on the corner cushion of the couch wrapped in a white kimono. Her brow wrinkled, "I cannot leave sister."

"She's insane," Cheong shook his head. "I'm told the servants do not allow their children up to the house anymore."

"I am her sanity," Liling said. She brushed aside her long lustrous hair. "My sister needs me. And I do not want to work for you anymore."

Cheong snapped his fingers, "You're wasted here in this _chòugǒushǐ_of a house. You owe me. I took care of both of you didn't I? Just like the head of the Aisin Gioro should. You both got to go to Europe, you both went to the best colleges in the states..."

"You made me fuck American politicians," said Liling sharply. She looked him in the face then.

"At least you're good for something," said Cheong crudely. "Not like Lifeng. What is she doing right now?"

"Pruning the bougainvillea - again," said Liling wearily. "Not that there's much left, she clips it and clips it till there's nothing left but a stump in the ground. Then she starts on another bush."

Cheong sat down on the opposite end of the couch and lit a cigarette. "Why are you different?"

"What do you mean?" asked Liling, though she knew what he meant.

"Four generations of insanity and blood. And it's always the women." Cheong let the smoke drift slowly out of his mouth. "Have you ever killed?"

"No," she looked away.

"Did you ever go fishing?" said Cheong cautiously. "_Ayi _me to go. She hated the sight of me."

"I was about four," she told him. "Auntie Lijuan took us out, she wanted to see how we reacted. Find out if it was in our blood. We went out and met up with four other boats, I remember the man in charge of those boats, his name was Luak and he scared me."

"It was towards the end, so we sailed around for two days before they found one around evening time. Probably one of the last refugee boats out of the Mekong Delta. There must have been over a hundred people crammed on the boat trying to get to Pulau Bidong. One of Luak's boats tried to pull up alongside but the Vietnamese threw torches back at them."

"_Ayi _ grew angry then, she shouted that no mercy was to be shown. The Vietnamese boat was a just a wooden hulk, barely afloat. We had the big motorboat. So she powered up the engines and rammed them, we just smashed their craft in two. There were so many people in the water. They were all screaming."

Liling closed her eyes. "Then Luak's men started pulling people out of the water. We weren't saving them though, they were cutting off heads: men, women, children. _Ayi _let Lifeng roll the heads off the side of the boat into the bloody water. Lifeng was laughing, she couldn't understand why I was crying. _Ayi was _disappointed with me"

"Luak's dead," said Cheong, he was looking at his wristwatch. Lifeng glided in from a side door unnoticed. She was holding a pair of garden shears.

"You never listen to me," snapped Liling, her face flushed. "Why the hell did you ask if you weren't going to listen to me? What happened to Luak then if that's all you care about."

"He was working for Chin," he said. Liling hissed and her hand slid down the front of her kimono to cover her groin.

"'Don't worry," said Cheong. "I won't ask you to screw Chin anymore. There won't be any more business dealings with him anyway. The Russian mafia got upset with him over in Roanapur and blew him up a couple of months ago."

"Luak and his men tried to take out some mercenaries working for the Russians called the Lagoon Company. They got slaughtered."

Cheong ground out his cigarette in the ashtray and stood up. "Way it's told – all of Luak's men were killed by a Chinese bitch named Levy or maybe it was Revy. Almost sounds like a relative of ours."

Liling stood up aghast. "Revy? Don't say that name!"

"What about Revy?" said Lifeng.

--

"It has to be her," said Lifeng. Her red tinted eyes glittered with an unaccustomed clarity. "How many women can there be called Revy who are gunslingers?"

"We don't even know if she's from America," protested Liling as they went down the stairs into the basement of the house. "Brother said she was Chinese."

"You promised!" Lifeng grabbed her sister's arm as they stopped at the closed door. She was getting hysterical. "We have to go to Roanapur, the hell with Bai Ji-Shin! We cannot let this woman live. She has to die so _Ayi_can be avenged! Not one day longer!"

"Stop it," shouted Liling. She turned her attention to the dusty wall panel, punched in a sequence of numbers. The door to the armory opened up with a metallic clang.

"You really got brother upset, " said Liling as she walked between the gun racks. Lifeng cried out in protest. "He thinks you need special help. You need to go back on your medication, you need to get back in shape. And you need to practice. I'll go alone and find out if "Revy" is the one."

Liling zipped up the duffel bag, she had filled it with weaponry, guns, knives, whatever seemed appropriate. She paused and then hugged her sister tight. "Let me check this out first. I'll go in disguise, just like Great-Grandma used to do."

"You can't go alone," whispered Lifeng swaying. "Don't do anything on your own."

"'I'm not going alone," said Liling with a smile. "I know a wizard."

--

_Four months ago, Roanapur, Thailand_

"Xianyu, how do I look?" said Rotton. "First impressions are important!"

"Absolutely fabulous," said Liling, aka Xianyu, now speaking in English as they slogged through the muck alongside the road. Their ride had broken down three miles outside the city and they had been forced to walk the remainder in the pouring rain. It was the end of the rainy season.

Rotton did not look good, the trenchcoat was hardly appropriate. They both were soaked to the bone. Liling had swapped clothes with one of her Sarkhanese servants, so she looked like an ordinary girl going to the big city. The duffel bag with the weaponry grew more and more cumbersome with each step. Rotton's bag was slung on the other painfully sore shoulder. Rotton had not offered to carry either the entire trek to the city limits.

"There's the bridge," said Rotton pointing. "Do you see the noose? They say that if you pass underneath it then you are automatically marked as a reckless one. That's me, I'm a reckless one."

"Whatever," said Liling shortly. As they crossed over the bridge, they had to squeeze up against the railing as a brightly colored lorry rumbled across. They were sprayed with foul smelling mud and water

"So," said Rotton flashing a brilliant smile as he shook out the sides of his trench-coat. "Where are we staying tonight honey? You got money right? Get us a place and some food Xianyu. Then you should immediately find a job."

"Yes sir," said Liling ducking her head as yet another vehicle doused her with oily smelly water.

"_Nǎozi-yǒubìng_– moron!" she muttered.

--

"I'll give you a try Ms. Xianyu," said Bao scowling. He ran his finger along the thin mustache he sported. "Waitresses tend not to last longer than a day at the Yellow Flag, usually they decide working upstairs at the Sloppy Swing is a safer job."

"Yes sir," she said bowing. It was early morning, and the bar was empty.

"Some things you should know," Bao leaned back against the counter. "Never leave the counter, the customers order up. It's too damn dangerous to serve the tables. The clientele will chew you up and spit you out."

"You see or hear anything suspicious, let me know immediately. You hear a gunshot, drop. Cover your head and don't look up. This thing," here he kicked the bar, "is reinforced with steel plating. You'll be safe back here. Oh, and never, ever ask questions – small talk is a bad thing at the Yellow Flag. Don't ask who they are, what they are, where they're going; you'll end up floating in the bay in pieces."

"It sounds very exciting sir," she said.

"Oh, it's more exciting than you can imagine," Bao said dryly. "You make it a week, and I'll give you a raise, a few extra baht, but one nonetheless. One other thing...'

"Yes?"

"I don't serve appetizers or snacks, but there are peanuts. Only one customer gets them, otherwise she whines like a sack of crap. Her name's Revy."

--

"What the hell did this bitch just serve us?" said Revy once she stopped coughing. "I know I said cheap but this taste like fermented choi dog piss. I'm not some trick bitch from Bushwick. Bao, gimme something better."

"Brook blended whiskey," shouted Bao over the din. "It's cheap. You and the nun are behind on your tab – again."

"I quit," said Liling abruptly. She dropped the rag on the bar top. Rotton gestured to her from where he lounged at a table with another man, but she ignored him and made for the exit. She had to sidestep a man, a stringy blond-haired Westerner dressed like a cowboy. She wrinkled her lip in disgust.

--

Liling adjusted the night scope and waited. She lay prone, stomach down on the moonlit rooftop opposite the shabby warehouse by the bay. The Heckler and Koch PSG-1 had been a favorite of Aunt Lijuan's. It was true what Cheong had said, she had never killed – but she could think of no better time to follow in the footsteps of her ancestors. If this would free her sister of the obsession it was worth becoming a murderer.

Four people had entered the warehouse: three women and a man. The boat at the dock was no longer there. The only sound was the murmur of the waves against the beach.

Her eyes fluttered and with an effort she shook her head. She checked the scope again. After a time she relaxed too much and her head slumped slowly down onto the tarpaper.

Gunfire crashed and echoed in a staccato wave. Yelling in shock she rolled away from the edge covering her head. The propped up rifle fell over the edge with a clatter.

Liling scrambled back to the edge and peered over. There were bodies sprawled on the metal stairs leading up to the second floor. A man was backing down the steps, a mini gun cradled in his arms. Bullets cracked and whined.

Two women sprinted through the parking lot below seeking cover. Liling blinked, the smaller one carried an impossible large chainsaw that suddenly snarled and burst into action. An explosion made her duck for cover and debris rained around her.

Liling rolled for cover behind a rooftop duct. Men ran past her in a wave, most of them carrying AK-47s, as they poured past her hiding spot. They lined up on the rooftop edge and laid down a barrage on the now burning warehouse of the Black Lagoon Company.

She barely made the stairwell, when she was flung down the stairs. Heavy explosions rocked the building. Some kind of heavy weaponry had been used upon the rooftop where she had been waiting. She heard shrieks and curses behind her.

Liling made it out and made a blind run across the lot through the smoke and confusion. Suddenly there was no footing beneath her, before she could scream she had landed heavily and sprawled face first in the mud flats below the dock.

The night sky now filled with billowing red tinged clouds of smoke. The gunfire continued and then began to taper off. There was a sudden rending scream and crash of metal as the warehouse collapsed followed by a abrupt silence. The sound of powerful engines began to throb in the air, a boat was coming in fast over the bay. At that prompting and with a groan the woman rolled over and sat up. She took the Sig Sauer P6 out of the holster and waited.

More explosions rocked the night. She could hear shouting, the roll of running feet on the wooden slats above. Four people sprinted wildly down the pier, the one called Revy bringing up the rear. They were making for the boat as it swung into the dock.

Liling exhaled and raised the gun with both hands. She started to stand up, coming out of the shadows below. The light glinted off the barrel.

A gun barked once. Liling went spinning into the ground with a cry. Revy had shot her without even looking.

--

"I had to try," said Liling to her sister. She sat down with a grimace. "She caught me in the side. She's too good. I'm sorry."

"You should be," said Lifeng with venom. "How dare you do this without me? Of course you failed."

The door to the room was flung open with a crash, forceful enough to dislodge the great white shark mounted on the wall, it fell and split apart on the masonry. Cheong lunged forward and grabbed Liling. His fist crashed into her face.

Lifeng examined her fingernails. Cheong didn't stop until Liling lay crumpled at his feet.

"You stupid bitches," Cheong shouted once he had caught his breath. "What the hell were you thinking? You went to Roanapur, did you now? Do you realize what would have happened if Bai Ji-Shin Chang had even the slightest inkling you were within his grasp? Do you realize what he would do? As long as we keep out of his way we're safe, but if you go sticking your head in the dragon's mouth expect to get eaten!"

He spit at Lifeng and stormed out cursing.

"I'm bleeding, Lifeng," gasped Liling through her torn lips, clutching her side. "Please help me..."

Lifeng stirred and knelt down. She cradled her sister.

"Lili," she crooned. "Lili. I know you do all the thinking for me, but you didn't think this time. And you paid for it. We can't outfight this woman, so let's outsmart her."

Liling nodded weakly. "Let's get rid of Big Brother also. But please, help me. Now."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five - ****"He's dead. That's all."**

"I need to pee," bawled Revy.

"Shut up, monkey!" Eda shouted back over her shoulder over the roar of the Harley.

"You know, that's sorta racist."

"No it's not, you're just a monkey! Why are we here?"

Eda swerved between two cars and pulled up at the curbside of Lachada Street behind the bright red Mitsubishi emergency vehicles and the makeshift barrier that the crowd of spectators ignored in true Roanapur style. Revy swung off the back of the Harley and tugged at the fraying edges of her shorts.

"Cause Benny's been hanging out here, and since it's on the way to the boat, I better check it out first. This can''t be too serious..." her voice trailed off. They stepped past the barrier and started walking up the opposing sidewalk.

Smoke and dust hung in the air, the fire that had engulfed the interior of G Spot Bar had been put out. Glass and debris were scattered on the pavement by the building front where the firemen in their orange jumpsuits were still milling about in an unorganized manner.

Rowan "Jackpot" Pigeon, owner of the Goof Fest, stood out among a small group on the opposite side of the street. A full three heads taller than the people he was with, he was further distinguished by the bright red tracksuit he was wore. He was gesturing wildly with his hands and speaking loudly to whomever would listen.

"This is terrible, just terrible. It took me a year to get those people up in Bangkok to agree to put in a G Spot right next to the Goof Fest. And now it's all blown to hell," he stopped abruptly as someone tugged at his arm and pointed at the approaching women. His head spun around and the color drained from his face.

"Rebecca -- baby," he said uneasily, working his brows together beneath the retro afro as they came up to him. He fingered his goatee. "I guess you know then. Tell Dutch that they've already picked up your friend Mr. Benny, and taken him to the hospital. Just a concussion, he'll be alright. But, uh, I don't think the Japanese fellow you've been hanging with, well uhhm..."

"What?" said Revy distractedly. She was far too drunk to understand.

"What happened?" said Eda, any trace of humor suddenly gone. Rowan blinked at the sight of the nun.

"Sister, here's what I heard," said Rowan. "that guy, where'd he go? Anyway he said he saw it all. Mr. Benny and that Rock fellow were talking with this young girl at the bar, chatting her up when all of a sudden this other woman burst into with a bunch of gunmen. They drag the girl off. Then the place blows up, they musta thrown some grenades or something. Whole buncha payin' tourists hurt, probably a few dead. Business is going to suck for awhile when this gets out."

"Where's Rock?" said Revy sharply.

--

They pushed in past the protesting firemen and went in. It was dark, only the emergency lights were still on, casting a red glare on the aftermath. Eda covered her mouth against the smoke and smell. Revy moved swiftly without concern, scrambling over broken chairs and tables. She made her way through the wreckage of the bar to the back.

The body was a mangled pile of flesh and clothing, one leg was missing. There was only one side left to the face but it was badly burnt and unrecognizable. What was left of the grey slacks and white shirt were charred and torn.

Revy made a queer noise from deep within her chest. Her eyes were wide open now and dark. She stood in front of the burnt remains with hands hanging flat against her thighs. Then she fumbled for a pack of cigarettes stuffed in her back pocket.

Eda caught up to Revy and stood silently alongside her.

"That's what he wore when he stepped out this morning." said Revy after a long pause. She said it casually, as if it was of no interest.

"I told Rock he wouldn't live long," Revy continued. Revy tapped the tip of the cigarette against the carton and bent it it. "He shoulda stayed in Japan."

Revy pulled out a second cigarette and mashed that one also, her upper lip twisted. "What a dipshit."

A third cigarette broke apart. Revy clenched her hand and crumpled the pack. It slid out of her grasp and fell to the floor.

"Revy," said Eda.

"Don't." Revy said coldly. She turned away. "He's dead. That's all."

"I need the bike," she said almost inaudibly, walking towards the door. "I gotta get to the boat."

"Rebecca," said Eda.

"I said I gotta get to the fucking boat," snarled Revy.

--

Eda went back.

Coughing she covered her mouth and nose again with the sleeve of her habit, then squatted down on her haunches beside the corpse. The nun frowned. Something wasn't right.

There wasn't enough light for a proper examination. She ran her fingertip along the sole of the shoe on the remaining leg and nodded.

Lights flickered, her shadow suddenly leapt out on the sidewall. Two of the emergency workers had picked their way to the back of the ruined bar. Eda turned her head, "Over here," she hailed them in Thai and they came up behind her with a stretcher.

"There's no rush on this one," she said. "Here, I need that light." she pointed at the shoe.

The shoe was Italian made: a brand called Rinescante Valentiano's, a favorite of the Japanese salarymen, who were able to afford them. Rock usually wore the same pair of BK-870's, a reliable but cheap black leather shoe.

Her hands went up the side, to the waist. She felt the pockets, pulled out the bloodstained wallet.

"Here, shine it here," she said. The man in the photo id was similar to Rock, but the name listed was Ichiro Takahashi.

"Heh," Eda said. She stood up quickly and dropped the wallet on what was left of the dead man's chest. "No prayers for this one. He's gone to meet his maker, he's all yours now."

"Where the hell is Rock?"

--

**CIA Worldbook Sarkhan (Extra Edition!)**

History: Located on the coastline between Thailand and Cambodia, the small country of Sarkhan has had a troubled existence since it gained independence in 1951 from the French.

From 1945 to 1948, elements of the Manchukuo and Japanese military who were suspected of crimes against humanity took refuge in Sarkhan through the Asian version of the Odessa network. No concrete proof has ever been established of such a network.

Both the United States and the Soviet Union attempted to subvert the monarchy that tried to emulate the Third Way espoused by India.

The country received mild notoriety in 1952 when the Soviet Union was able to take credit for famine relief though the entire effort was done by the United States. The affair was documented in the book "The Ugly American." The film of the same name starred Marlon Brando.

A military putsch put the nation firmly in the American orbit during the Vietnamese conflict. Following the American withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975, a communist faction took control.

Henry Kissinger referred to the country at the Paris Peace Accords as the "Yutz of Asia."

In 1977, the Cambodian Khmer Rouge annexed the country leading to widespread famine and genocide. Thailand provisionally restored the country's independence in 1981 though it insists that the country not be recognized on any current maps as all disputed boundaries between Thailand and Cambodia are "fictional."

Capital City: Haidho. Located on a plateau overlooking the Gulf of Thailand. Inadequate harbor facilities and political issues have led to the city being a backwater. An attempt to make a deep sea port by the Soviets in the '80s was discontinued in favor of Camh Ranh Bay in Vietnam.

People: Split equally between Khmer and Thai.

Interesting Fact: Piracy has played a large part in Sarkhan's history.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – "All I have"**

Liling snapped the cellphone shut, "Our target's moving. We have to go."

"Revy, Revy, Revy," sang Lifeng waving her arms and spinning.

Liling frowned and motioned to the man standing by the cars. He was a large in stature, and his enormous arms drooped by his sides. "Chuluun, help her. She needs assistance. Get her to..."

"I am all here Lili, you will not need to slap me again" said Lifeng sharply. "When I hold the _yin wa_ in my mind, the thoughts don't run away. Was she told the story?"

"Yes," said Liling reluctantly. "Our men confirmed that the target thinks her associates were killed because of ... me. And... again.. I can't do this. Please, let's just shoot her down, she'll be exposed on the dock and then we'll deal with Big Brother later."

Lifeng stamped her foot, "NO! We've put so much into this; so much time, so much thought. It will come together. I want her to see, I want her to feel, I want her to bleed! You're the brave one! You can do this: you promised!"

Liling bowed her head, "I promised."

"Tell her the truth," said Lifeng, she was now the one in charge. "Just not... everything. We'll take our positions and drive this she-tiger into the trap with brother as the bait. It's going to get exciting. You have the GPS transmitter, yes?"

Liling nodded.

"Are you afraid?" said Lifeng blinking. The thought had just occurred to her.

"Yes," murmured Liling.

"Good," Lifeng smiled cheerfully. "Because if you aren't, she will kill you. Chuluun, hit my sister."

--

Bai Ji-Shin Chang was standing by the desk, tapping on the marble top with his fingertips. He had the look of having just got up. He turned his head slowly as Biu entered the office.

Chang said: "I expected one but not the other. I could make an educated guess, but let's hear it."

Biu cleared his throat, ran his hand through the long lank hair. "The G Spot was the target of a bombing this morning, just an hour ago. It appears several Japanese tourists were killed. That will definitely bring some unwanted attention from the media. It also appears someone launched an attack on the Black Lagoon company -- again. They appear unrelated, but I wouldn't make such an assumption."

Chang thought for a long silence, then he spoke. "the Russians?"

"We've heard nothing from the Russians, Chan _da ge_."

"Contact Boris then," said Chang casually. "Let them know we weren't involved in the G Spot unpleasantness. I told Balalaika a couple of months ago I disapproved of the opening of that place in her quarter of town."

"It is puzzling," said Biu blandly, hands folded. "After all she is the one who took care of the late Mr. Chin."

"Chin was nothing," said Chang coldly. "It's that Sarkhanese filth up in Bangkok who interests me. Balalaika allowed Jin Cheong a foothold, a small foothold here in Roanapur. She did it mostly to irk me. The woman is bored, dangerously bored. That trip to Japan just made it worse."

Chang moved to the window and looked down at the city. Biu said, "And now someone has blown the G Spot establishment up."

"With each passing day," said Chang, "this city becomes more and more unmanageable. But we must make of it what we can. There may be an opportunity in all this. My sources tell me Jin Cheong may be coming here to meet with Balalaika -- but why would he take such a risk?" His voice trailed away.

"Biu?"

"Yes, Chan _da ge_?"

"Find out how Lagoon fits into this."

--

The _Burakku Ragun_ listed to port. The heavy pall of smoke from the boat had mostly dispersed throughout the harbor environs. Revy stalked mechanically down the silent pier with the Beretta's in hand. Her eyes had a wide stare that took in everything and nothing.

"Dutch!" there was no response.

"Dutch! Goddamnit Dutch!" she shouted, but it ended as a shriek and stopped abruptly, biting her lip. The guns dropped to her sides.

The neighboring docks were deserted. People knew better than to involve themselves in any troubles involving the Black Lagoon Company, and Roanapur's police force weren't known to hurry into these situations.

Gritting her teeth as the injured leg almost buckled under her, Revy scrambled onto the stern of the boat. There was a slight hissing noise coming from the nozzles of the smoke generators and an acrid smell still lingered that caught at the throat. The damage to the bridge was not as bad as it appeared from a distance.

Revy stepped over the blown off entry door and stepped into the interior of the bridge. She swore harshly and jerked the guns up. A woman crouched by the broken steering wheel started up and tried to scramble away, arms flailing.

"Please no! It's a trap," the woman yelped as Revy lunged across the length of the bridge, leaping over the two dead bodies that lay crumpled on the floor. She was small, with tousled black hair, almond shaped eyes set in a face that was Eurasian. She had a dark bruise over one eye.

Revy kicked the woman's feet out from under her and followed her down to the deck. The woman squealed as Revy grabbed a handful of hair and thrust the barrel of a Beretta into the side of her temple.

"Who are you, and why should I care?" Revy leaned in so their faces were within inches of each other.

"I told you, it's a trap! They killed Dutch and they're waiting for you!" The woman gasped for breath. They're right outside, aaiii, you're hurting me!"

"I'll keep hurting you until you answer the question," Revy spit. She pushed the barrel harder into the woman's temple so that the flesh folded in a curve where the metal met the skin. The other gun lifted and covered the entryway to the bridge.

"Please, my name is Lucy – I was doing a job with Mr. Benjamin and Dutch. It all went wrong."

"No shit." Revy pulled back slightly. "Because of you my partners are dead. You move – and I'll make you die slow and ugly. Don't even nod. Just. Don't. Move."

Revy sidled over to the bridge hatchway, moving in a crouched position. She began to peer around and then snapped her head back. The sound of the shot followed. She looked back at the woman. Revy's face was empty, expressionless.

"Talk."

Liling took a deep breath, rubbed her temple: "I had information for Mr. Benjamin concerning a lost treasure. But it appears it was all just a setup. I was supposed to give him the information, but all they wanted to do was take out your partners so they couldn't help you. They want to kill you. They killed Benjamin and that other fellow and then brought me here to fool Dutch. But he shot these two men instead and here I am, I don't dare leave..."

"Uh huh," said Revy. One of the guns was bothering her, she disengaged the magazine from the handle and reset it, pulling back the slide and chambering a round. She nodded, "What's so special about me?"

Liling's lips trembled, "Jin Cheong's the big boss up in Bangkok. You killed his mother's sister. When he found out you were here in Roanapur he said you had to die. In fact, he's here in Roanapur to oversee the hit."

"Isn't that special?" said Revy sarcastically. "I usually just kill guys, they're the dumb ones with the guns. I've heard of Jin Cheong, but I don't remember killing whoever the hell his stupid relative was."

Liling leaned forward, "They said you killed her ten years ago, in America. Her name was Lijuan."

Revy shrugged, she was still toying with the Beretta she had had problems with, her brow was furrowed. "Nope. Whatever. Wasn't me, I'd definitely remember that."

Liling's mouth dropped.

Sirens wailed. Immediately Revy knelt down by the bridge entry. It was a risk, but she looked around so she could see what was happening. Figures were vanishing into the shadows by the half rebuilt warehouse. Three squad cars were racing down the bay road towards the dock, lights flashing.

"It really is the fucking end, the police are actually coming for once," she exclaimed.

I'm not going to Bankhen prison," said Revy to herself, eyes flickering over to the two dead bodies on the bridge floor. "Chief Watsup's been wanting to screw me over since the day I showed up here. It's not happening. I won't fade away. Time t'a rock."

The sirens were getting louder.

"I don't want to go to Bankhen either," said Liling urgently, crawling over the debris to join Revy at the bridge doorway. "It's not fair, we can't let that bastard Jin Cheong get away with this. I know where he is, he's hiding up at Nakhon Ratch, up on the north part of the bay."

"You're just full of crap aren't you Lucy," jeered Revy. Her head was down. Liling shrank back. "You're right though, this ain't the time or the place... yet. Here's what you're gonna do. Go down the hatch to the middle section of the boat. The weapons are stored there, but I don't care about those and don't even think about sneaking something, I'll know. There's a green bag hangin' on a hook. Go get it."

"What's it for?" said Liling, curious in spite of herself.

"It's all I have," Revy said bitterly. "Now shut up and do what you're told."

As soon as Liling had clambered down the hatchway, Revy brushed aside a scorched piece of debris and a crushed beer-can on the floor to pick up a torn fragment of paper. Her eyes darted around, found the stub of a pencil. Quickly she scrawled five words, and then slid the paper beneath the edge of a dial below the instrument panel on the helm.

Liling's head poked up through the hatch. Before she could fully stand up, Revy grabbed her by the collar and swung the smaller woman about forcefully against the bridge bulkhead, away from the helm. Liling quivered in her grasp and blinked rapidly.

"Let's take a walk," Revy suggested.

--

Sergeant Sensak's gaze hardened. Flanked by three officers of the Roanapur Provincial Police and a tall westerner he stood with hands on hips as Revy and Liling came slowly down the pier from the boat.

He barked. "Step away from each other and keep your hands in sight. Miss, I want you face down on the dock now; legs and arms spread. Don't try anything funny."

"Everybody funny," said Revy conversationally. "You funny. Step aside boys, or I'll blow this bitch away."

Liling gulped as Revy pulled her close and thrust a gun barrel into her ribs. The officers fanned out raising their guns. "I don't like this idea..."

"Stop! Let's not get carried away!" the westerner stepped forward raising his hand up. He was tall, sandy haired, in a black business suit. "I'm Special Agent-in-Charge Cooper of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. We have an outstanding warrant for your arrest. Put the guns down little miss, I can promise you won't be harmed."

"Little miss?" Revy snapped. "Blow me, butthole. You got five seconds to get out of the way or I splatter her entrails all over my dock."

"_Sow deh lar_!" shrieked Liling, suddenly pale. "_Tzao gao! _She's serious!"

"Revy, drop your guns now," shouted Sensak. A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek. Agent Cooper gritted his teeth.

"Four... Three... Two..."

"Stand down," Sensak shouted in frustration, stepping back. "Men, lower your guns."

"Thank you," purred Revy as she urged Liling along past the tense group of policemen. Her eyes flicked ahead. The Harley was too far away, parked alongside the warehouse. "Hey Sensak, you left your engine running."

"What? No! _Maeeng!" _shouted Sensak as Revy heaved Liling into the driver seat of the nearest police car and then jumped in herself, thrusting the Chinese woman into the passenger side. As the officers lunged forward, Revy threw the car into reverse, and stomped the accelerator hard. The Chevrolet Optra slammed into the second police car with a crash of metal and glass.

"Oops," muttered Revy. Sensak ran in front of the car waving his gun, his face contorted with fury. Revy shifted into forward and stomped on the accelerator again, tumbling Sensak over the front hood. She swung the wheel hard to the right and spun out of the lot and onto the road. She headed north along the bay road. "Hey sirens," she flicked the switch on.

Sensak lurched to his feet. "Call the other units! Get after them now!"

--

"We could be at Nakhon Ratch in about fifteen if we weren't about to be screwed," Revy said, steering furiously as she slid into an intersection and tried cutting up the boulevard into the city proper. She careened around a truck and forced a screaming woman on a motor scooter onto the curb and into a crowd of people. The two pursuing police cars followed close behind.

Cursing, Revy cut to the right and down a side road back towards the harbor. "Damnit, they got the main road blocked. Unfreaking believable, I'll be the laughingstock of the underworld if these turds arrest me. So Jin Cheong thinks I shot up his auntie? Don't see how I coulda done it. I was sort of in a coma."

"What do you mean a coma?" Liling's mouth was dry as she clutched at the seat belt. "What about that _barang_ back there? Why are the American's looking for you?"

"Almost everything. Yeah, coma, exactly what I mean; some New York city cops beat me senseless and put me in a hospital about ten years ago. I wasn't shooting anyone," said Revy pressing down hard on the brakes. "Where you from Lucy Liu-girl? _Barang, _that's Cambodian talk isn't it?"

"I'm from Sarkhan," Liling shouted. "Oh no!"

Revy surged forward spinning the wheel to the left. She drove the police cruiser into a thick crowd of pedestrians who scattered shouting. They had turned onto the side road along the Khancha Klong Canal that cut through the lower part of Roanapur. The way before them was blocked by a thick crowd out on a Saturday market day. Vendors were standing up on the long tailed boats that filled the canal from one side to the other, heads turning to see the commotion.

"I've always meant to come here," Revy grunted as she was forced to bring the car to a halt due to crowd. She kicked open the door and grabbed the bag and Liling. One of the police cars following couldn't stop in time and toppled over the side into the canal behind them with an enormous splash. "How 'bout you Lucy, do you like like shopping?"

"I'm wearing heels!" shouted Liling in pain as Revy dragged her forward.

Fifteen meters in front of them the crowd swirled like an eddy in a pool. Policemen poured out of a side alleyway fifteen meters in front of them. Revy stopped, snarling with fury.

"Revy!" Sensak shouted from behind as men, women and children scrambled away leaving them isolated. "Throw down your guns! Now! Or we'll shoot!"

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Liling threw herself to the ground. Revy stood crouched, legs apart.

Then Revy stood up, laughing.

"You're baggage," she said to the prone Liling.

Then Revy turned and flung herself off the edge into the small boats tightly packed in the canal. She dropped with both feet extended into the nearest and the jumped for the next. The boat vendor stood up, his mouth open and Revy stiff-armed him into the water. Arms and legs pumping she ran the length of the boat and hopped to another one. And then another.

Revy left a trail of destruction in her wake; the small boats capsizing and turning over in the oily waters of the canal. Men and woman cursed as they were unceremoniously and suddenly dunked, bowls and baskets of food and cheap wares tumbling over the sides. There was further chaos as Sensak and his men made a disastrous attempt to follow Revy, smashing apart the first boat they collectively jumped down into. Angry boat vendors began to throw fruit and vegetables at the floundering police officers.

Only one boat was between her and the other side. A family of four stood up underneath the awning of the boat, frantically waving her away, the man desperately trying to get the engine going. Gritting her teeth, Revy sprang for them, arms outstretched and crashed onto the boat, a jolt of pain rocketed up her injured leg.

For a brief moment the family members and Revy punched and kicked at each other in a frenzied struggle and then Revy found herself plummeting over the side, head over heels. Someone tumbled over after and landed on top , forcing her underwater.

Revy came up sputtering and pushed the person away. The canal stunk of sewage; she struck out for the bank. She was still clutching the bag. Both Berettas were still safely holstered. She pulled herself up the muddy, slippery bank with a convulsive effort.

In front of of Revy was the S_alam, _the squatter slums of Roanapur. a shambling maze of shacks made of corrugated sheets and particle board remnants. Ignoring the stream of insults and shouts that followed her from the market place, Revy lurched forward and was lost in the buildings pressed up against the canal's edge.

--

Special Agent-in-Charge 'Cooper' helped Liling to her feet. Furious, Liling pushed him away.

"You, you idiot," she hissed, brushing at her clothes, one of her heels was broken and she stood awkwardly. "Nothing but a fucking _Gaijin_ in the end. For a moment I actually thought those morons were going to gun us down."

In her anger, she forgot herself and swore in Japanese. It was the birth language of the Aisin Gioro of Sarkhan.

"How was I supposed to know they'd call out the entire police department? That Sergeant fellow must be bucking for a promotion," protested Agent 'Cooper.' "This whole business is turning out to be a bloody cactus. Now if ya don't mind, I'll take my payment and split before the fellas can stick their nightsticks up me freckle. It won't take them long to figure out I'm a fraud once they start checkin' back."

"Give me a cell phone," said Liling coldly. She shook off the persona of the girl Lucy with a shake of her head. "That damn bitch thinks she's given us the slip, but she's wrong."

"How's that," said the man as they hurried away from the marketplace.

"I stuck the homing transmitter in her bag when I was on the boat," said Liling.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Come into my Abbatoir**

Rock blinked repeatedly, dazed, as if hungover, trying to understand what had happened and where he was.

His entire body ached. His arms and face stung. His muscles throbbed. He had the worst headache he had ever felt in his life, and his ears were ringing. The smell of smoke seem embedded in his sinuses. All in all he had felt better.

Almost no light seeped past the edges of the blackout curtains over the windows. A small area around the bed was poorly lit by a Victorian style lamp on the nightstand, the rest of the room was dark; the ceiling was black, the walls were black. A low throbbing music was playing, probably louder than he thought and the wailing litany of the song became comprehensible.

_"The sheep within__  
__Wearing wolf's skin__  
__Weak vagiant__  
__Amongst midgets."__  
_

_"Snot and cum, piss and shit__  
__Of this I am made - like a taste of it?"_

Rock grimaced, and forced himself to sit up from the comfort of the mattress. His rising sense of uneasiness was immediately overwhelmed by a wave of nausea, and he closed his eyes. He found he was trembling, an aftereffect of the bombing.

Rock slowly opened his eyes after a while and examined the interior of the room. In the far corners were objects whose meaning could only be guessed at. In the left dangled an armless, life sized female mannequin that hung from the ceiling by a noose. It appeared that there were numerous nails embedded in the head. To the right another mannequin, small and childlike in stature was posed in a chair, the head lowered, an arm lifted.

The singer continued howling.

_"The punishment__  
__Eternal lent,__  
__Victims be clear__  
__You're all volunteers."_

The uneasiness became more acute. There was a presence in the room besides him. Rock swung his legs over the side of the bed and breathed in deeply. It was only then that he became aware that he was not wearing his own clothes. The paisley patterned shirt hung off him and the slacks were too large. Fortunately his shoes were placed precisely on the floor as if waiting for him and he put them on with tender movements.

There were paintings on the walls, each a jarring distraction from the black décor. Rock examined the one nearest to him and felt sick; impressionistic tangles of body-parts and and entrails that matched the reality he had just recently experienced at the G Spot. He swallowed and looked away.

The seated mannequin in the right corner bothered him more and more. He shuffled over to it. It was nude, feminine, but asexual as the pose revealed – with a sheen that hinted at plastic. The elfin head with the mouth slightly parted, was framed by a wild black mane of hair that was familiar, but had to be a wig. A belt hung loosely around the spare waist, with a holster for what looked like a microphone.

Then Rock noticed the telltale scar on the throat and recoiled.

The mannequin had to be fake; the face was dead, the eyes flat and lifeless. He leaned in close, afraid to touch and passed his hands in front of the fixed gaze. If the eyes dilated, then he would know.

Nothing. "_Daijobu_, ok then," Rock said and stepped back. His imagination had taken flight. Of more importance was finding out why he was here and what had happened. Rock remembered diving over the table at the G Spot, Benny looking up with a bemused expression. And then there had been a moment afterwards when he had stood up in the smoke and darkness and stepped in someone's guts.

The mannequin exhaled sharply, snapped it's head around and looked at him.

"_Kuso!_ " blurted out Rock, stumbling back in shock, and falling back over the footboard of the bed back onto the mattress. Surely he must be dreaming, a terrible nightmare. If only he could awaken.

The creature stood up, knocking over the chair. It bounded onto the dresser and then flipped into the air over the bed, a spider attacking it's prey. It landed atop his prostrate form, the wiry limbs straddling but not touching.

Rock could only gape, frozen in primal panic as the masklike features swooped to within inches of his face. The creature's breath was overpowering with ketosis, the reek of a carnivore. It reached slowly for the holster with one hand and brought the ultravoice up against the ravaged throat. He noticed that the device was now connected to the waist holster by a coiled telephone type wire. The ghost-woman had learned a lesson from her past experiences.

"S**wearing is not allowed... in my home..."**

Suddenly Rock could breath, "I'm sorry, very sorry." he babbled. "It won't happen again."

The lips parted, the head tilted, "**That would be wise... You are the gun-girl's Prince Myshkin... are you not?"**

"Wait, please, I don't understand." Rock stammered. "Are you some kind of robot?"

The remembrance of a smile almost played across the ghost-woman's face. She shifted into a kneeling position above him, moving carefully so that her thighs did not come into contact with him in any way. She raised both hands cupped to her eyes and blinked. Rock realized now that she was wearing a skintight outfit.

"**Contacts... they hurt... a body suit... some paint and makeup... a concept for a kill," **she shrugged slowly. "**I do not think... we have met... in a polite way... I am Frederica ... Sawyer."**

Rock had a look of absolute incomprehension. Sawyer pushed herself off with a graceful turn and stood poised on her toes beside the bed, hands clenched, holding the contacts. There was a look almost of pride as she gestured at the nearest painting.

"**Ehh... you admire the paintings? They are originals... Sagawa's no less... I used to correspond with him when I was younger... Do you know him?"**

"Sagawa's?" said Rock blankly as he pushed himself back up into a sitting position. Then full understanding struck him and before he could stop himself said "That's... that's horrible. I'm sorry, but I really need to use the bathroom."

Sawyer spun around, now her eyes were alive and glittering.

"**You... Are... A... Bore..." **she flung the door to the room open with a crash and stormed out.

--

"You have to understand, it's Saturday – she has to play," said the young man with the silver hair earnestly, who had introduced himself as Rotton "The Wizard." He learned forward, putting his elbows on the table. "I apologize if you found it disconcerting. Of all of us, she's the only one who's actually gainfully employed. It's very stressful running a meat packing business; the employees, the bills, the health inspectors..."

"**I had the last health inspector... visit me in the abbatoir..." **said Sawer with dark remembrance. She sat crosslegged on a stool, her composure regained. Dressed in a manner that reminded Rock of the girls of the Harajuku district in Tokyo. A somber display of black frills and ruffles. The knee high boots must have had a six inch sole added to the bottoms.

Rock found his testicles shrivelling at the thought. Rotton blinked, then whipped out his trademark glasses to hide his discomfort. Shenhua, however laughed in her high usual tone. She stood behind Rotton with her hands resting familiarly on his shoulders.

"How exactly did I get here," said Rock carefully, swallowing the offered aspirin and tried to hide the fact his hands were still shaking. It would not do to upset any one of these three, they were all dangerously disturbed. After all, the last time he had met them, they had all been trying to kill him. The clock on the dining room wall was at 2:50 pm.

"I was in the back-room of the G Spot speaking to the manager when it happened," said Rotton airily. With his index finger raised he pushed back on the center of the shades. "It was a matter of mutual benefit..."

"I told him to get a job," said Shenhua bluntly. "What a load of _mai gai seng_! We can't keep leaching off of poor little Sawyer here."

"**I don't mind..." **Sawyer looked down shyly.

Rotton winced, "As I was saying: I was in the back speaking to the manager when suddenly the whole place went to pieces. I don't know how else to explain it. My first thought was to check out what had happened from the back alleyway, but the hired help were impeding my egress. I decided I had best see who needed help, so I went onto the bar floor..."

"He was pissing his pants," interrupted Shenhua with a squeal.

"... and there you were," said Rotton grimly. "that surfer dude guy you hang out with was pinned behind a table against a railing and looked pretty bad. There was smoke, fire, body parts all around, but you were stumbling about with nothing going for you but the whites of your eyes. "

"And..." said Rock taking another sip of water.

"Well... I brought you back here," said Rotton lamely. "Made sense. Usually when something goes down in this burg, the Lagoon Company is somehow involved. I thought someone would try to finish you off so I exited you out the back when those idiot cooks were finally clear. Figured we could do you a favor, sort of make up for the whole burning down the warehouse thing. You were completely out, so we let you sleep it off in the bedroom. Sawyer got you dressed, said you needed a change in appearance."

"I don't quite follow," murmured Rock. He knew the territory now, and steadfastly refused to consider the mental image of a cheerful Sawyer playing dress-up with his body while he was unconscious. He brought the tips of his fingers together and brought them to his lips waiting.

"The girls need work," explained Rotton. "After that whole fiasco, Mr. Chang didn't even call Shenhua. He's cut her off. I even spent my own money to help cover her medical bills...I mean it's not a problem for Sawyer but..."

"**Really... it's not a problem..." **Rock looked at her sharply and the small woman became suddenly preoccupied, pulling down the long frilled sleeves over her wrists.

"Fucking nun," spat Shenhua furiously. The Taiwanese woman looked as if a small animal had become lodged in her mouth and was fighting it's way out.

"If it wasn't for Sawyer we'd be out on the street," finished Rotton. "So I thought if we could somehow be, you know, like subcontract out for Black Lagoon if the need ever arose."

"It will be considered," said Rock dryly, looking at the clock. It was 2:58 pm. "You wouldn't happen to have any cigarettes would you?"

"I don't smoke," said Rotton. Both Shenhua and Sawyer shook their heads.

"Wait, there's more," said Rotton quickly. "We have a police scanner and heard what happened afterwards. There was a huge explosion down on the docks at the south end, looks like your boat got destroyed. Second, the entire police force of Roanapur went on high alert, if you can believe that. Sounds like they went after your girl friend in a big way."

Rock had learned over the past few months that there was nothing better than a poker face in these situations. If Rotton was willing to divulge information without prompting, all the better. He leaned back in the chair, though the sick feeling was rising in his stomach again.

"What happened," he prompted.

"Stupid slut make big mess," said Shenhua rudely. "Messed up market day. Police all pissed off 'n stuff. But I know what you thinking, she's not in the happy wagon, she got away."

It was 3:00 pm. Rock cleared his throat. "Excuse me, I need to use the phone."

_Acknowledgements: Thank you to "Just Another Soul" for reviewing this chapter and for writing "Immaculate."_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: The Cardinal Deviations**

"There were two women," said Eda. "I crosschecked Mr. Pigeon's story with other witnesses before coming back. What he was told doesn't hold up. They were Eurasian, both late twenties, possible early thirties. There was a fracas involving the two before the bomb went off. Outstanding features, one was an albino."

"Interesting," said Yolanda, her eyes were closed. They had returned to the "bubble" beneath the church rectory. The analysts were working rapidly at the consoles. "Albinos are rare, the age would be about right."

"We'll have something shortly," said Eda.

Yolanda sighed. "Reliance on these machines is a weakness. I prefer the methods of the blessed Ramon Llul and the teachings of the Jesuits. A moment please, the _ars memoria _is played with association."

"_Phony old bitch_ ," thought Eda. She shifted uneasily and as the minutes passed. "_Crap, I think she died..."_

Yolanda's eyes opened. She moved slowly to scratch the brow above the eye-patch. "Too clever, too conceited."

"What do you mean?" said Eda.

" The story of the gold of Sarkhan," said the elderly nun. "Used to entice Mr. Benny and Ms. Bhai's curiosity and avarice. Yoshiko Kawashima, the original dragon lady, her birth name was Aisin Gioro Xianyu. _Aisin _means gold in the Manchu language."

"After World War II, the daughter of Kawashima, along with other Manchurian expatriates fled to Sarkhan. The Soviets were involved and the daughter became an agent of theirs during the cold war. The Chinese, both Communist and Nationalist found her existence to be intolerable regardless of ideology. She was assassinated in 1960. She also had daughters. The older daughter was Lijuan the Albino."

Eda nodded, impressed despite herself. "I remember reading the case study on her during my training: Baader-Meinhoff gang, Pol Pot, piracy. She spread herself about like leprosy. Didn't she die in a car accident somewhere around New York? No one ever figured it out what exactly happened. Search on Lijuan!" she yelled abruptly at the two analysts.

"It didn't end there," said Yolanda with some asperity. "The other sibling also had children. It took some doing on our part to get this information which I share freely. Jin Cheong, the crime boss of Bangkok was her oldest son. There are also twin daughters, one an albino just like Lijuan. They are the great-grand daughters of Yoshiko Kawashima. In a manner of speaking, they are the gold of Sarkhan."

"Wow, four generations of pure crap," said Eda. "It must be genetic. And you knew all this because a young woman had white hair in a bar? That's sort of pushing it."

"I'm the J. Edgar Hoover of southeast Asia," said Yolanda. "I know everyone's dirty laundry. A good operative only needs some of the pieces for deniability. But they should be able to put the puzzle together when the rest is uncovered. The G Spot Bar is a franchise run by Jin Entertainment, a legitimate front for Jin Cheong's criminal enterprises out of Bangkok."

"_Jin _means gold also," burst out Eda.

"Now have your analysts check out this web address," continued Yolanda. "It will give you a link into the web cams the Thai Central Investigation Bureau installed throughout the city. The CIB has become very worried about our backwater city recently. The Church of Violence has of course already subverted their efforts, most of what they see are feeds we control. Check the camera located at Rakhon Natch."

"Do that also," Eda barked at her men, "Jesus! What about all that nonsense about Ramone Who-lu and the _ars memoria_? How the hell'd you pull that off?"

"Do not take his name in vain," said Yolanda with a gentle smile. "One must keep abreast of the times. Brother Rico noticed on the cams this morning what can only be described as a mega yacht anchored off the peninsula of Rakhon Natch, north of the bay. We confirmed. The yacht belongs to Jin Cheong."

"The questions then are: Why is Jin Cheong here? Why did his bar get blown up and how will Hotel Moscow react? What will Bai Ji-shin Chang do when he finds Jin Cheong is here? And why this peculiar interest in the Lagoon company?"

"We have something from Langley," interrupted one of the analysts. "It says here the Lijuan incident a decade ago involved Asian refugee street gangs and Thai mercenaries involved with the Golden Triangle. Two of the witnesses confirmed that a girl was the leader of one of the street gangs."

Eda hovered over the consoles. "Really, what else? Select all incidents from Asian street gangs located in New York City. Time period equals 180 days before and after using the NYPD Nexus database."

"Got it," said the second analyst after minutes of frantic searching with Eda and Yolanda waiting intently for the results. "I've just pulled up an New York Herald front page cover. Is this what you're looking for? There's more if you want."

On the monitor the headline screamed: "Funeral Massacre Shocks City! Born to Kill Bloodbath!" a grainy black and white photo, apparently taken from the ground showed a blurred figure of a young girl hurtling over a gravestone - guns in hand. The face was turned away, the guns were Berettas.

We need to talk," said Yolanda taking Eda's arm and pulling her to the back of the room out of earshot of the two men.

"This presents something of a problem for you, doesn't it?" said Yolanda leaning back against the door. "I believe you are authorized, indeed expected, to make arrests based on criminal behavior against Americans by American citizens regardless of your current mission. There is no statute of limitations on murder. And now Mr. Ravencroft will be auditing the search you've done. Doesn't help there's the suspicion you've embezzled money after the Bhai affair."

"Screw that," said Eda heatedly. "We got saddled with Section 423 of H.R. 5020 against the concerns of the agency. It violates the terms of my mission in Roanapur. We're not law-enforcement, and there's no clear evidence that's Revy, it's just us leaping to conclusions."

"Your mission was to keep out of sight and mind and be a nun of the Church," said Yolanda, shaking her head. "And you and the getaway girl are friends. A pity. She saved your life."

"I have no friends here. It's just an assignment," hissed Eda stepping back and crossing her arms. "I need a break. It can't be her! I think I'll just go get my Harley back."

"Sister Eda!" said Yolanda stiffening in outrage. "How could you? Nuns don't ride motorcycles!"

--

"That's a hardcore bitch," commented Dutch after listening to Rock's account. The large man had just finished putting on a new shirt and wiped his face with a towel. For once he wasn't wearing the sunglasses. They stood on the dock looking east over the Roanapur harbor towards the boat.

"I know," said Rock. "The chainsaw girl's almost as nimble as Revy."

"I meant Shenhua," said Dutch. "Damn lucky that pretty boy scraped her ass of the ground after 'Sister' Eda shot her up. Mercy's in short supply around here."

Dutch opened a beer. A pile of cans was already growing on the concrete slab. The ships in the harbor barely stood out against the shape of the Buddha Mount, the water flat without even the shimmer of a ripple. Even the seagulls had given up on flight this afternoon.

"I was under the pier for almost an hour," Dutch said into the thick stillness of the air "Damned muddy, damned uncomfortable. I was lucky, the sloppy bastards. They made no attempt to confirm they got me – just a mad scramble to set up their business with Revy. Same with you and Benny, no follow through. Then Sensak shows up barking at the front of the pack, and the show moves on. Our bit role in the play is over."

"So we're dealing with amateurs then," said Rock frowning.

"Nasty, lethal amateurs with firepower and men," Dutch crumpled the beer can. "Only a blood feud gets this messy. Well, she's on her own."

"What!" said Rock outraged.

"That's what I said," said Dutch, dropping the can among the others. "This is a business, and not a very successful one right now. She knows the score. We're not playing at being some kind of psycho three's company like Shenhua and pals. Just leads to all sorts of unpleasant shit when things go bad."

"I got a ship that's shot to hell and two bodies to dump in the Gulf now 'cause of Revy," continued Dutch over Rock's growing consternation. "Benny's going to be at the hospital for a couple of days and you look rather crispy yourself. When an employee's personal life screws with work, it's up to them to take care of it on their own time or they're out on their ass. We're business partners, not bosom buddies."

"I disagree," said Rock heatedly. "We're all in this together."

"Revy takes care of herself," said Dutch lighting up a cigar. "She hasn't called on the hour like we're supposed to when this kinda show goes down. Anyway, she'll just show up - she always does. That bothers you, doesn't it."

"Yes it does," said Rock.

"Let me ask you something," Dutch flicked the match away. "That business we had a while back with the Neo-nazis. She ever get around to telling you what happened with the crew?"

"Yes, she shot one in the leg as an example," said Rock suspiciously. "Said they didn't have a leg to stand on."

"That's not what happened." Dutch took a deep drag on the cigarette. "She took them all out. Doubletaps, no witnesses -- no survivors."

Rock shivered. Revy had lied. He remembered now the way her eyes had slid away from his.

"Rock, let's keep this real," said Dutch. "If we're gonna have a heart to heart, then you should know I don't think there's much difference between you and someone in the Manson family. You're building a fire that will burn you up if you're not careful."

"The girl's a sociopath right out of the textbook," Dutch continued. "No conscience, no guilt or remorse, except apparently what you give bring to the show - and that's not much. If she ever decides to be done with you, you won't even see it coming."

_She turned in the car seat, the look in her eyes uncharacteristically soft, almost pleading. "I am your gun. My job is to protect your life, not to interfere with it. So... I'm with you Master."_

Revy had ended up skewered on the ground, screaming in agony. Rock grimaced, "_We need to take care of this..." _They had both lied to Dutch about the disastrous ending in Japan, blaming Revy's injury as a consequence of Rock being kidnapped... again.. by the Yakuza girl.

"I'm sorry, that is not acceptable." said Rock firmly. "I must find her even if I'm too late."

"Thought you'd say that," rumbled Dutch taking the cigar from his mouth. The end was a shredded ruin. He reached into his pocket. "Here's what we got. '_Lijuan, Jin Cheong, Nakhon Ratch_.' Her handwriting stinks. Found it on the helm when I cleaned up."

"Nakhon Ratch it's that little peninsula above the slums?" said Rock frowning at the paper fragment. "And Jin Cheong's the big boss up in Bangkok, he doesn't have any business down here, or does he? Who is Lijuan?"

"Was. That goes way back," said Dutch reflectively. "that Sarkhanese bitch was called Great White, and not because of her looks. She fed people to the sharks. Luak and his brigands used to go raiding with her back in the old days when refugees ran the gauntlet from Vietnam to Thailand. Had a few run ins with her."

"Hell, I need another beer," Dutch picked up the last one. "For a while there, Mr. Chang and her were lovers, till they had a falling out of sorts. The usual bloodbath. Then Lijuan up and disappeared. Nobody cried."

"I don't get it," said Rock puzzled. He sat down suddenly, as a wave of dizziness overcame him. He needed to rest. "Did Revy ever say anything about this Lijuan. She would have been just a kid. She wasn't even here. Or was she?"

Dutch sat down beside him with a sigh, "Nope. Revy showed up later. One day I get a call from an old war buddy of mine, says he sending someone out my way for safekeeping – she'll be useful he says. Okay then, a month goes by, another, turns into a year – I forget all about it and then Revy shows up on my doorstep. Starving, practically naked and a thousand mile stare. How she got from New York City to Thailand is anyone's guess and I never asked. Why she had to leave the states I never asked about either."

Dutch laughed, "Thought she was a mute till she opened her mouth one day, hasn't stopped swearing since. I set her up with a job at a dive shop, thought she'd be happy there. Yeah..."

"How about this friend of yours," said Rock desperately. "Maybe he knows some..."

"Dead. Cancer."

"Oh. Damnit!" Rock stood up, "I've got to do something now. She needs us."

Dutch fumbled for his sunglasses and put them on. "You're good for her you know. Like a compass. You keep her pointing north."

Rock bit his lip, "Well, if I'm a compass, I need adjusting. Revy's broken. And that Sawyer girl never had one. I need a gun."

The eyebrow arched. "What? You really did get knocked upside the head. I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"A gun's just a piece of metal without ammunition," said Rock, the meaning clear only to himself. "I'll be right back."

"And I'm right here," said Eda. The nun had walked up behind them from the side alley without being seen. She smiled. "Hey, there's my hog. What's going on?"

The Glock was visible underneath her arm.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 09 – It is Later Than You Think**

Liling's face went as white as Lifeng's. "What have you done?"

"You know cellphones are a wonderful thing, so why didn't you call?" said Lifeng smiling. She bustled around the bed feverishly pulling the plastic drop cloth tight and tucking in the ends with a certain preciseness. "Why aren't you with my Revy? Where is she? Is this a surprise?"

"No! It's all going wrong -- I couldn't get a signal. What are you doing? What are you wearing?" Liling collapsed in a chair and pulled off her broken heels with a grimace. Chuluun stood silently by the door, the nervous Agent 'Cooper' rocking back and forth on his heels, stood at his side.

Lifeng pirouetted. She was garbed entirely in black leather. Black military boots sheathed her feet. A tactical vest swathed her chest. Kevlar slash resistant gloves covered her hands.

"...the shoulder pads – so late 80s -- I took those out" she said sweeping back the layered hair with a spastic brush. "Great White will be the last thing she ever, ever sees! Now, what happened?"

"It won't work," said Liling wearily, tossing the shoes aside. "Neither of us are our _Ayi_. I got another taste of how fast 'your' Revy works. I couldn't keep up and she abandoned me when things got out of hand. When night comes she's going to through here like a tornado and nothing will stop her. Right now she's intent on pulling a kamikaze on Big Brother."

"Oh," Lifeng stopped in mid turn, frowned. There was dust and mildew on the dresser, it bothered her. "Chulunn's been listening in on Big Brother's shipboard communications. He's pulling up anchor and leaving in a couple of hours. Brother is not coming ashore. He thinks Bai-ji Shin is here, not the Russian cur with the melted face he so desired to meet. We're going to have to pass on the fishing expedition. It makes me sad."

'We're done," said Liling standing up. "We have to leave now. Chuluun, get the men, get the car..."

"What has happened to your obligation to your elder sister, your proper sense of _giri_?" said Lifeng, her eyes narrowed to a faint scarlet glitter between the lids. "Our blood is Chinese, our nationality Sarkhanese, but our souls will always be Japanese."

"It is too hard a burden to bear," said Liling miserably.

Shall we run back to Sarkhan then as fast as we can? Get the crazy sister locked up in that house on a hill and back on medication so she doesn't cut up the servant's children? You'd like that wouldn't you? Are you going to crawl back to Cheong now!"

"No, I'm not, I..."

"I like it here," interrupted Lifeng sharply. "I like this city. I like the way it smells. I finally feel ... right about everything. I'm staying. And do you think after killing the geek, the black man and the boyfriend she's going to let us walk away? And I'm not done with this Revy, this _chòu biǎozi _of a Chinese-American mongrel."

"She didn't do it!" shouted Liling furiously. "She said she was in a coma and in a hospital when _Ayi _was murdered, she said so! It's not her!"

"And you believed her?" Lifeng frowned again and bent to pick up Liling's shoes, looked around for a convenient spot to place them. "What? You thought she'd spill her guts to you after a brief introduction? Hugs and kisses? Are you stupid?"

Liling's mouth twisted and she looked down. "Not that stupid. I stuck the transmitter in her bag. If she's still in Roanapur, we should know be able to figure out when she moves on us."

Lifeng took the time to put the shoes down side by side against the wall before she clapped in approval. "Oh, well done. I'm sorry, I take it back. That's brilliant!"

"Eh, sorry to interrupt," interrupted Agent 'Cooper' who had been unable to follow the discussion. The twins had been switching back and forth between Mandarin Chinese and English without any rhyme or reason. "But, I'd like to get paid. Gunplay isn't my stuff. If I had any idea the bitch of the Lagoon Company was involved I would have doubled my price for that bit of work I pulled on the police. That almost gave me a bad case of the trots."

"You like money, don't you" said Lifeng tonelessly in English. "Consider it tripled if you stick around a bit longer. And why don't you get yourself a drink, we brought some whiskey along. Now I need to speak to my sister alone. Chulunn, get the rest of the Luak's old gang here, we need to speak to everybody in fifteen minutes or so. We don't have much time."

Lifeng bent and picked up the large bag that was leaning against the side of the bed with the plastic sheeting. She unzipped the bag and with trembling, eager hands pulled out a hacksaw.

--

Revy slid down the side of the embankment, slipped and almost impaled herself on a cluster of mangrove roots sticking out of the layer of garbage and mud.

Twice on the hour, while navigating through the narrow walkways she had attempted to use the red public phone booths situated near the main avenue, if it could be called that, cutting through the heart of the _S__alam_. The first one had been out of service, two policemen had loitered by the second and she had been foced to retreat, cursing, back into the maze of the slum.

The residents gawked from the open doorways of the tin roofed shacks as she dodged and twisted her way between them. In the past few years an influx of Muslim refugees from the southern provinces of Narathiwat and Pattani had crowded the slums even further. The stares and shouts were not friendly; her manner of dress barely drew notice in the southern and central areas of the city, here she was truly _fereng._

Since crossing the canal several hours ago, she had been on the move. The large amounts of rum she had drunk that morning with Eda in place of food had left her with a horrific headache that wouldn't stop. She was desperately tired and dehydrated.

"Miss Revy feels worse than shit," she announced thickly to the egrets picking through the mud. She sagged back panting against the embankment and took stock of her surroundings.

After the continual distraction of the slums just the other side of the raised embankment, the silence was a relief. The northern estuary dripped through a narrow morass of mud flats and thick beds of mangrove roots. As it opened into the Gulf of Thailand, lines of fishing stakes intersected and weaved about in unknown divisions. Two hundred meters down on the right a timberwork jetty poked out into the listless waves, a solitary fisherman perched on the end.

On the other side, the narrow peninsula of Nakhon Ratch thrust itself out and then curved towards the north like the crook of a finger. A large grove on the opposing embankment hid all but the rootops of the cluster of buildings built at the tip of the peninsula.

She looked out into the Gulf and into the small breeze that had begun to blow. The sky and ocean had merged into a steel gray miasma with the promise of an approaching storm, unusual for the season. A large white motor yacht stood at anchor not far off the peninsula. Further out the fishing boats were coming in for the evening, beating their way through the waves towards the Buddha Mount and the harbor.

Revy frowned and fumbled in the bag. Taking out a small pair of binoculars shefocused them first on the yacht, then the peninsula and lastly the man on the pier. She grunted.

"I know you," she said softly. She adjusted the eyepieces. The fisherman, casually sitting at the end with the pole propped up beside him, likewise had binoculars and was watching both the yacht and the peninsula. "You work for Mr. Chang don'cha?"

Revy put the binoculars back in the bag. She examined the contents critically: Four packs of cigarettes. A thick bundle of 500 baht banknotes with the bespectacled image of Rama IX. Another bundle of 100 dollar bills, courtesy of one Janet Bhai – indistinguishable from real currency. The backup semi-auto – a Taurus PT-92 17 9-millimeter with the steel slide and black frame, unlike the customized Berettas. Several passports, a gun license (just in case), and four extra 20 round magazines. -- and there was something extra underneath the gun magazines.

She picked out the small dark plastic device with the keychain ring hanging at one end. Flipping it over with her fingers she frowned, bewildered. On the back, a white piece of tape had written on it in blocky letters the name 'Benjamin.'

"Damn. Benny, keep out of my stuff," she flipped it dismissively back, let the bag fall on the ground. "Tagged me like somethin' from a nature special."

_The body was a mangled pile of flesh and clothing, one leg was missing. There was only one side left to the face but it was badly burnt and unrecognizable. What was left of the grey slacks and white shirt were charred and torn._

Suddenly Revy howled. The egrets burst into startled flight. She lurched sideways and down without a care. Her arms and legs thrashed convulsively and she balled her fists and pounded them into the garbage and filth of the bank with a hysterical strength, heedless of injury.

She reared back on her haunches. Brought the bloody, mud covered hands up and clawed at her face, leaving tracks down her cheeks.

"Miss Revy's going to kill you Jin Cheong," she gasped out in between heaves. "You son of a bitch! You should'a stayed in Bangkok! She's gonna make it a real goddamn horror show."

--

She went inland. Mangrove saplings grew thick, but there was a rickety wooden footpath laid down on top of the soft mud by the riverbank, and she moved through the dense growth swiftly. Her only company were the mudskippers who scrambled for their burrows as she passed by. The _S__alam_ had come to an gradual end on the other side of the embankment, rows of rusted warehouses and garbage mounds were randomly visible through the undergrowth.

The estuary narrowed rapidly and the further shore of the Nakhon Ratch peninsula grew near to within a near forty meters or so. The peninsula itself narrowed to a narrow sandy causeway held in place by breakwaters, barely wide enough across for a single lane entry road before joining up with the mainland. One could see across the narrow causeway upon the miles and miles of shrimp farms that stretched to the north; long narrow man-made ponds with embankments in between each of them.

Suddenly Revy stopped and knelt down on the slats of the footpath. She fumbled in the bag and pulled out the binoculars again.

A woman was running down the Nakhon Ratch causeway towards the mainland.

It was Liling. In the approaching twilight it appeared she was running on a black line on the white shimmer of the Gulf waters behind her. She was barefoot and staggering. Her long black hair blew in the increasingly strong wind, hiding her face.

Revy watched with detached interest. She looked to the right as a jeep roared out the wooded grove from the far end of the peninsula in pursuit.

Liling stumbled and fell down in the road directly across from Revy. The jeep came to a screeching halt and a group of men jumped out, rifles sticking in the air. Revy peered through the gap in the mangrove thicket from the other side, hidden from view.

Revy could hear the voices clearly across the narrow width of the river.

"No, no, no!" yelled Liling, as the lead man approached her. He was an enormous hulk of a man. "Tell Jin Cheong I know..."

He bent and appeared to strike Liling. She went sprawling. Two men stepped forward and picked the woman up, her legs dragged along limply. They scrambled back into the jeep and reversed the vehicle with a grinding of gears until they reached a spot wide enough to turn around in. The jeep then drove back towards the hidden buildings and the groves.

"Hysterical twat," commented Revy crudely. She lowered the binoculars, and then suddenly blinked. She rummaged through the bag again and pulled out the GPS device.

"Benjamin, Mr. Benjamin, shit! He never labels stuff like that," she bit her lip in sudden suspicion. "Bull! It's Benny, it's always Benny. Nice try, but not good enough."

It was starting to rain. Revy stood up, favoring the injured leg. She would slip across _Baat dâng jà-mòok;_ the Hangman's Bridge, at nightfall just a quarter mile upstream and then make her way towards the peninsula.

"Let's go."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Countdown**

"Pretty boy, you are not looking good. But it could have been a lot worse," clucked Eda peering over the rims of her pink sunglasses at Rock. "I must say the new choice in shirts is an improvement. 'lo Dutch."

"Sister," replied Dutch carefully, adjusting his shades.

"Where's Revy?" said Eda casually. "I thought for sure you'd have her swabbing the decks or cleaning the bilge after this morning's excitement."

"She's not here," said Rock coolly. "Why don't you take your bike and go? We've got work to do." He turned his back on her and started down the dock towards the boat.

"Hey!" sputtered Eda. "Is that any way to treat a friend? What happened to her? By the way, does she know you're alive? I was with her this morning, y'know. She was beyond freaked out, I'll tell you. She was like -- I'm too tough to cry, bitch! – But I could tell she was about to bawl her eyes out."

Rock stopped, turned his head "She thought I was dead? What do you know?"

"I have a call to make," said Dutch abruptly. He scrambled to his feet, "I'll be right back."

The small scrap of paper slipped from his grasp.

--

Chang stood very still behind the desk. The old man moved slowly, bent forward a little. The face was seamed and wrinkled and the thin wisp of a beard dangled from the chin. Biu followed close behind and shut the door

"Then all three are here?" said Chang. "The bad seed must be eliminated, no matter how it tries to hide itself, no matter how long it takes. Were you aware that the Eastern Jewel was a fire horse? If the Japanese had known her birth date had been lied about, would they have fostered the _hinoeuma_ and her daughter?"

"She was useful for their purposes," said the old man.

"She certainly was. My father's family was from Shanghai," said Chang harshly. The old man nodded. No other explanation was necessary. "To think that I would end up being an 'associate' of Lijuan, the grand daughter of Yoshiko Kawashima in my younger, foolish days. It sickens me! I made a vow when I discovered who and what she was that I would complete the work our governments chose to abandon."

"The white haired girl," said the old man. He stepped forward, his entire body was shaking. "I do not care about the others, but she must die slowly. She is a child killer. She killed my daughter's son."

"I can guarantee an unusually slow death," said Chang. He motioned to Biu with a raise of his hand. "I'll need a squad of men assembled. You know whom else to contact."

--

"There's no way Revy got caught by the police then," said Eda. "So, we can assume her and this woman are still on the lam. So, who is she?"

"I don't know," said Rock grimly. They were in the boat passageway where Revy stored the weapons and ammunition.

Eda sighed, "Listen up Okajima. Revy's heading into a deathtrap, and the problem is she doesn't really care. I'm willing to help the wench, just so long as I get to see her face when she realizes I've come to save her ass. We're probably too late. What's it going to be?"

--

Rotton woke up slowly.

Shenhua lay sprawled next to him on his right, her small mouth open as she snored. Once the Japanese man had left they had all retired to Sawyer's bedroom and spent the remainder of the afternoon in an epic bout that left all three exhausted and sated. Rotton smiled and gently brushed at Shenhua's hair.

His spur of the moment (and genuine) act of mercy after the hunt for the Indian woman had garnered the 'Wizard' the unusual devotion of both women. Two unusual creatures with no interest in common morality or scruples as far as he could tell.

Shenhua, fierce and passionate, an artistic type. Sawyer, seemingly apathetic but clinically precise, an enigma of brutality. Both of them had hinted at spectacularly disastrous relationships with the opposite sex prior to his arrival. One didn't have to look too hard at the grotesque scar adorning Sawyer's slender neck to arrive at that conclusion.

He frowned, realizing there was room in the bed to his left. Where was Sawyer? There was always an uncertainty, a frisson of fear that she brought to any interaction. He still remembered vividly the shocked reactions of hardened gunmen and criminals when the seemingly frail doll-like woman had announced she was "the Cleaner" at the Yellow Flag that fateful evening.

Rotton stared up at the black ceiling, his thoughts drifting. Speaking of the Yellow Flag, whatever had happened to Xianyu? His original companion had vanished the night of the hunt. Her few belongings had been left unclaimed in the cheap hotel room they had been living in.

Aside from a few small pangs of guilt, Rotton had casually decided that Xianyu's timely disappearance had worked out well for the 'Wizard.' It would be foolish to have his new _amors_ discover the existence of a prior companion; they were the jealous types. The poor girl, if found again, would be sliced and diced and his bodyparts mixed in for good measure...

The door to the bathroom creaked open, and light spilled out. Sawyer stood silhouetted in the light. Rotton gasped and suddenly wished his Mausers were at hand.

Sawyer was garbed in surgical gear. She was adjusting a leather apron.

"Is that Sawyer?" squeaked Shenhua. "Tell her to come back to bed."

**"It's a big rush job." **said Sawyer the Cleaner. **"I just need... a driver."**

"I don't clean," said Shenhua sleepily. "Rotton? You go."

--

"Play it close," said Dutch quietly coming back from the warehouse. Eda was rummaging through the sidebags of the Harley parked on the side of the building and out of ear range. "Remember she's not one of us. We have no idea why these people are after Revy so don't give the nun any assumptions she can take out of context. Uh... do you know how to use that?"

"Well enough," said Rock pocketing the gun. "Make sure the safety's not on. Look, point and shoot. Revy has taken me shooting."

Dutch grimaced, "Target shootings one thing, this is another. Don't get your hopes up, she's probably dead already and nothing can be done about that. But I... here she comes..."

Eda came over, stopped and bent to pick something up off the dock. "Okay, here's what we I know. It looks like a family affair, we've got Jin Cheong, crime boss of Bangkok and his two lovely sisters paying us a visit up in Nakhon Ratch. Let's not worry about the why. That presents problems."

"How so?" said Rock. They all drew close.

"Cause we're in this by ourselves," said Dutch. "Boris says Balalaika is 'out' and that means the Russians will hunker down until she's back. They really don't care if Jin Cheong goes and blows up his own restaurant on a Saturday, even if it's on their turf."

"Thought about Sykes," continued Dutch. "But we have no way of getting in touch with him and he'd cost too much anyway -- not like he's listed in the phone-book. Same with the Triad, Chang calls us, not the other way around and he's not going to start a war with Bangkok on our injury."

"Jin Cheong always travels with lots of muscle," said Eda grimly, "and that peninsula is real easy to defend. If he's there, then we can't just drive in the causeway. We'll get toasted in seconds. The front door is closed."

"We can't go in by sea either," said Dutch jerking his thumb at the torpedo boat. "It's not the bridge being shot up this morning that's a problem, the tanks are empty. No one's gonna fill us up on credit and at this time of night. I have nothing in reserve. That boat's a gas hog."

"Wouldn't work anyway," said Eda with a frown. "Jin Cheong's yacht's out there. We'll be spotted instantly when we head for the beach."

A feeling of utter helplessness descended on Rock. "Then I get a taxi and make a go down the causeway. I don't expect anyone else to...

"Isn't that Kiwi Ken's boat over there?" gestured Eda at the small powerboat, two docks down. "He's the guy with the parasail right? Thought he could get summer tourists, but this ain't the right town for that shit."

"What's that got to do with, oh...." said Dutch suddenly grinning. "You wanna pull a flying nun? Hey, it's your neck. Sort of insane, the weather sucks and it'll be dark but the wind's right."

"I don't get it," said Rock.

"Kiwi Ken's out for the season," said Dutch. "But I can hotwire the boat, and he always keeps fuel in his shed -- and the parasail equipment. We'll need a driver, just in case I need to pull your asses out. Usually that would be Benny, but I know just the man – used to drive Swift Boats in the Delta.

--

"I finally get to trash your stuff," cackled Bao leaping on board, a look of glee on his face. "I've dreamed of this moment."

"It's not our boat," shouted Rock over the engine roar as Dutch pulled out. It had begun to rain, a gentle mist.

"What? I can't hear you!"

--

"She's crossed the bridge," said Lifeng. She closed the lid of the laptop and brushed off a dustspeck. "We can't rely on the transmitter from here on in, she might have found it. And our gunmen are on the roofs of the surrounding buildings. She'll find it easy to get in, but she won't be checking out."

Liling drained the shot glass hastily.

"We know how Revy operates," said Lifeng. "I got in touch with _Ayi's_ old comrade, Masahiro Takenaka of the Japanese Red Army before we got here. He had a run in with her a while back in the Philippines. She relies on surprise, speed and accuracy, and always has backup. She's lost the first, the leg injury slows her down and we have measures for the third. Best of all she's on her own."

"I don't want to wear it," rumbled Chulunn. He hefted the vest dubiously.

"It won't hamper your movements," said Lifeng sharply. "The vest barely weighs anything and it's a level IIIa, made of dyneema fabric – better than kevlar. Proof against nine millimeter with the plates. You'll need it."

"Do you think she bought it? That little act out on the causeway?" said Liling uncertainly.

"She just has to believe long enough for Chulunn to take her out," said Lifeng.

The toilet flushed and 'Cooper' stepped out of the bathroom. He was staggering and made for the table where Liling was sitting and grabbed the bottle of whiskey. "How much longer till your brother, Jin Cheong gets here? I'm getting a bit nervous."

Lifeng smiled while her hands did a little dance by her sides. "Stick around. Have another drink with my sister."

She switched to Japanese for Liling's ear only. "Death is the solution to all problems."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Stranglehold**

The boat slewed widely about. The sea dacoits had driven in astern to support the other boat, but they were too late. The cabin of the lead boat spewed a roiling vortex of smoke, and gunfire crackled briskly. The three men could hear screams.

"Back away, back away!" commanded Ikan. The engine roared to full throttle and stalled as they tried to reverse. The man to his right shouted and began shooting wildly.

The girl erupted out of the smoke, hair streaming behind her.

Two useless thoughts crossed Ikan's mind as she bounded the gap between the two boats. One, she moved like an Olympic athlete doing the long jump, the second; she had an amazing ass.

Then Ikan was no longer able to make such observations as he took the full brunt of the girl's impact, her boots smashed him into the gunwale at the back of the boat. Simultaneously she swept all three of them in a controlled burst from the automatic she wielded.

Then she was gone, leaping effortlessly back over to the Lagoon PT boat that had swung in close against the smaller boat.

Ikan lay in the cockpit of the boat in great pain. Several of his ribs were broken and he was bleeding profusely from a shoulder wound. After several minutes and only with great difficulty he pulled himself up and over the bloody corpses of his brothers and looked over the side.

Cousin Luak's boat was turning hard to port. The PT boat followed almost leisurely behind. Now the girl stood motionless on the prow of the boat, an M-79 grenade launcher dangling from her hands. A bandolier draped over her shoulder. Suddenly she spun the grenade launcher and fired. Luak's boat blew up.

Later, once the _Buraku Ragun_ had moved away up the coastline, Ikan forced himself to move. From one burning wreck to the next he went, collecting the wounded. The dead and dying were left to go down with the ships.

The survivors limped home. One day Ikan would have revenge. That had been months ago.

"They can't be serious," muttered Ikan. He spoke in Malay

He crouched in the scrub covering the low rise above the entry road, along with three other men. The rain had picked up, dripping noisily down the leaves.

Ikan tossed aside the tranquilizer gun with a grunt. Picked up the AK-47. "The hell with the money, this is about blood. I'm not going to sit here and wait for her to fall over. I'd rather she be dead."

He bent over the man with the GPS device, _"Maner betina gila tu_? Where's the crazy bitch?"

"_Saya tidak tahu_ - I don't know." grunted the man. "She made it down the causeway and then vanished down there, somewhere on the right." He gestured vaguely.

"She's not moving," burst out another as the dacoits jostled against each other in the darkness, staring intently at the red indicator on the device that stayed motionless. "She's just sitting there. We should...."

"Shut up," Ikan couldn't believe the noise they were making. He was growing frustrated. He rubbed the ribs that had been broken when the Lagoon gun-girl had leaped on him. They still hurt. "She can probably hear us, let's report in..."

He switched on the PMR unit, raised it to his mouth.

"I heard you a long time ago, dip-shits," said the low voice behind them.

"_Bauta!_ Damnit!" Ikan choked out and whirled, too slow...

He would never have his revenge.

--

"I like the boots," purred Liling. She held out her arms. "Who needs to wear anything else?

Tammy laughed and jumped on her and they wrestled on the bed giggling.

Liling was nineteen and free of Cheong and Lifeng for the first and last time. Outside the dorm room window the autumn leaves blew in the wind. They had spent the Saturday morning hiking on the Block House trail overlooking the Potomac and both girls were in fine spirits.

After a while the girls collapsed, Tammy on top of Liling. They were both panting heavily.

Tammy grew pensive while Liling twirled the other girl's hair between her fingers. Eventually Tammy spoke in a distracted tone.

"Been meaning to tell you this, but I'm planning on dropping out."

"What?" Liling's hands froze.

"My grades haven't been that good this semester," said Tammy. "And I really just want to get away from here. Go to California or something.. I got friends out there I can hang out with and party. Get away from my family, they're too close."

Liling frowned, her hands fell away. "Oh, I know what that feel's like."

They were silent. Tammy stared out the window.

"You know what I think," said Tammy dreamily. "Leaves are like heartbeats. There's only so many on a tree, and when they're gone, it's all done."

"That's stupid," said Liling frowning. "The leaves always come back in the spring."

"Fine, be that way," pouted Tammy. She scrambled off the bed, grabbing her clothes off the floor. "Whatever, I gotta go."

Liling put her hand on her breast, felt her heartbeat and watched the leaves fall till the darkness filled the room.

Cheong called the next day.

"LILI! LILI!"

Liling's head snapped up. Shocked, she realized she had fallen asleep for a moment, "What?"

Lifeng giggled hysterically. "Sister, Revy just saved us a lot of money on our insurance!"

"What happened?" slurred the man known as Cooper. He stood leaning against the wall, a cigarette in one hand, a drink in the other.

"We just got confirmation that the Lagoon girl's been captured," chirped Lifeng in English. She smiled and switched off the personal mobile radio before the screams and gunshots could be overheard. "My brother's very pleased, he'll be here shortly. Just a few more minutes. In fact, I think I'll go greet him."

"It's time then," said Liling in Chinese and standing up and taking a deep breath. "We knew those idiots wouldn't last, but now we have no one covering the causeway. All we have are four men plus this fool."

"It doesn't matter," said Lifeng shrugging, she gestured at the silent Chuluun. "No one else is coming. It's just us and her."

--

Revy ran in a low crouch through the brush and down the slope on the left side of the peninsula. In spite of the rain there was enough diffuse light from the city of Roanapur bouncing off the low lying clouds that she could see clearly. Ahead of her and to the right were three buildings clustered around an open parking lot at the end of the peninsula. Only one weak flood light illuminated the parking lot to reveal several parked vehicles; the jeep and three vans.

Two of the buildings were rusted warehouses. The third was The Nova. Built in the early 1970s by an ex-patriate with little understanding of Thailand, but grandiose dreams, The Nova was a squat two-story motor inn. The structure had been built too close to the beach and storms had undermined and destroyed the southern wing. The northern wing had survived, but the motel had been closed down when the owner had been found hanging in the lobby.

Eventually the Triads took control of Nakhon Ratch and forced out the squatters as the location suited smuggling operations for both the Snakeheads and the 14K. The area was also was used as an outdoor gun range. Such was the fear accorded the Triads that no guards were stationed permanently on the peninsula, it was considered off limits to tourists and curiosity seekers.

Several of the rooms in the northern wing of The Nova had been cleaned up at Mr. Chang's insistence when dealings with the Snakeheads and the Burmese Maung-shan became profitable and a neutral meeting spot became necessary. The abandoned motel was used as a safehouse when need arose. Several years ago in fact, Revy had been forced to hole up at the place after a particularly nasty affair for almost a month. She was familiar with the terrain.

Revy had left the go-bag with the GPS device covered up by the shoreline in a ditch. The extra magazines and the Taurus had been clipped to the back of the large military belt Revy always wore around her waist.

Ikan's group had been expected, detected and easily eliminated. The parking lot should have been filled with Cheong's men trying to respond to the gunshots. She would have sprinted into their ranks before they were aware of her presence and wreaked bloody havoc. But the parking lot was deserted. Except for the slap and slush of the waves on the beach and the wind there was no additional sound.

Revy stopped and kneeled to regain her breath where the scrub met the parking lot. The injured leg was throbbing and she was pouring with sweat, mixing with the rain. The mud had long since washed off her face.

A figure was visible on the rooftop. The man saw Revy at the same time she saw him. Revy felt a slug snap past her cheek as it went by and buried itself in the ground. She burst forward with a stumble into a stiff breeze coming off the water as shots snapped past her. She wasn't moving with her usual speed and dived for the wall at the end of the northern wing. Desperately she found herself wishing for a cigarette.

As fast as she was able to she made for the side door. It was open and she pushed in, the left gun raised to cover the stairwell to the second floor. The right gun roared in the enclosed space at the man who dodged down the ground floor hallway, the cartridge tinkling on the concrete floor.

Revy followed. A door slammed as she turned the corner. The empty, puke colored corridor stretched before her. Her mouth twitched as she tried to swallow away the strange brassy taste in her mouth. She suddenly realized she was afraid. Nothing about the situation worked to her strengths. This was different.

The neo-nazi wannabes from the salvage ship months ago had been amateurs. They had come boiling out of their quarters flailing and squealing to be cut down in their tracks. There had been an alarming surrealism to the ease to which she had slaughtered them, as if they were willing sacrifices. In Japan, Chaka and his gang had crumbled just as rapidly under the dual shock of Revy and "Jumbo." So-called toughs begging for mercy when there was none to be given.

"Awww crap," Revy had been a fool to leave the note for Dutch. She had nothing to live for. Rock was dead. They were all dead. She was dead, no one was going to give her directions to the ferry. That was all. She snarled and lurched down the hall towards the shouts. The voices were coming from the last room on the right. The door was open, the light spilling into the corridor.

Revy turned into the room, crowded the door shut with her shoulder and went past the bathroom and closet into the room.

Lucy was huddled in a corner screaming. The man in the black business suit who was bent over her turned. The cigarette in his mouth dropped and his face went white as it jerked back and forth between the two women. A strangled gurgle died in his throat.

"Ah, bugger me shitless, you set me up bitch!" His hand slipped into his jacket and came out with a gun. He took a small step towards Revy. There was a hopeless glaze in his eyes but he tried anyway.

Revy shot him in the head, decorating the wall behind with a spray of blood. The body jackknifed to the floor with one leg doubled up under the other. The gun tumbled out of the hand onto the floor.

"You know, with an accent like that I don't think he worked for the DEA," said Revy coldly. "In fact, I don't know what to think, Lucy who the fuck are you? Where the hell's Jin Cheong or was that just piss in the wind?"

Revy stepped over the man who had been known as Agent Cooper and came to within a meter of the cowering Lucy. Her brown eyes were heavy and lidded as she looked down.

"It took me awhile, but I remembered. The Yellow Flag: that night when every piece of crap in the city came for us. You were behind the bar. You gave me the worst drink ever that night," said Revy without a trace of expression. "But that's not all. I only saw you for a moment on the dock, but that's all I needed. I thought I blew your head off."

Liling stared at the guns. Her mouth opened, apparently at a loss.

"C'mon 'Lucy'," hissed Revy. "All these words, all these lies. I prefer pain. It can be trusted. Shall I show you?"

Liling talked rapidly then: "It was my brother. I'm Jin Cheong's sister. He said he would hurt my twin if I didn't kill you. He'd hurt me."

Revy shrugged, "I don't care. Why don't you stand up? Where's your brother?"

Liling stood up, "He's waiting for me on that yacht just offshore..."

Revy heard the door open. She started to turn. Liling suddenly slid forward and dropped into a leg sweep launched at Revy's ankle and missed making contact as Revy spun away.

Chuluun came at her from behind. At an angle, Revy pumped three bullets into the large man's body and then too late went for a head shot. The huge man came on relentlessly in spite of the impacts interrupting his advance. His eyes and face were set with determination. He knocked the Berettas out of Revy's grasp and as she fell back he dropped and drove up towards her, an immense mass of muscle and gristle. His two big hands shot out, locked themselves around her neck.

Revy made a gurgling noise before her head was bent back. Powerful thumbs dug into the arteries on the side of her throat. She was lifted up off the ground, her slender body writhing. A boot spun off one of feet as they kicked. She struck at the face that grew a fierce smile with puny blows that had no effect. He thrust her up against the wall.

Her vision went as the blood thundered in her head, then her right hand moved independently of the spastic jerks shaking her body. It groped it's way to the Taurus holstered in the small of her back.

She couldn't see, she couldn't breathe. But her arm swept forward with the gun, made contact against something hard, moved the barrel up in small jerky movements to Chuluun's armpit above the vest and pulled the trigger twice.

The hands around her throat went limp, the man sagged forward, coughing a bloody froth on her, a shocked expression enveloping and then swiftly fading across his face - the mass of his body kept her pinned up against the wall. She gulped air frantically, the sulfurous smell of cordite filling her nostrils

She kept firing. The brass cartridges spitting out of the gun. She suddenly slid out of his grasp and fell to the ground. He wavered above her and she shot him under the chin, a spray of blood and bone erupting out the back of his head. He toppled over away from Revy.

She rolled over, coming up on one knee wheezing - one hand to her throat. Liling's frantic kick crashed into her ribcage hard.

"You bitch! You unbelievable motherfucking bitch! You killed Chulunn!"

Revy sprawled on the ground, she tried to raise the Taurus, but Liling's next kick spun the gun out of her grasp. Revy grabbed Liling's ankle.

Liling shrieked as Revy twisted the foot as hard as she could and the woman fell on top of Revy. Liling's elbow came down hard into her ribs. They grappled in a frenzy, cursing and spitting.

Revy swung and heard a crunch and a sob. Liling recoiled - hands to her face as blood gushed from her nose. Revy pulled away and came to her feet --and froze for one moment too long.

A nightmare of a woman in black leather and combat gear with white hair had entered the room. The red tinged eyes were unnatural, the pupils small, a flat glitter of rage burning in them.

Revy whined like a child about to be beaten. "You're dead...I killed you..."

Lijuan from her childhood swung the chair in her grasp. There was nothing but a blinding white flash that engulfed Revy's senses. Then a blackness that ate her whole.

**Note: Thank you to Sai978 for straightening out my very limited knowledge of Malay.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – Come Together**

At only thirty, Jin Cheong was young to be the head of an international crime syndicate. But he was a predator with a pedigree and connections that stretched throughout the Asian underworld and beyond. The North Koreans, the Russians, the Burmese drug lords all benefited and prospered in their dealings with the organization he inherited after the death of Lijuan. What she had treated in a merely dilatory way as a hobby, he had grown into a business. That his ancestry was that of the Aisin Gioro of Yoshiko Kawashima was of no interest to the company he kept.

A private army of Sarkhanese gunmen made Jin Cheong a force to be reckoned with. These descendants of the World War II refugees from Manchukuo had passed their loyalty to the Aisin Gioro down to their children. The most capable and ruthless had followed Jin Cheong when he relocated the syndicate up north to Bangkok, Thailand - a city he vastly preferred over the parochial Haidho.

Tonight Jin Cheong was not in Bangkok. He stood in the dining room of his mega yacht, the _Souheki _off the harbor entrance of Roanapur_. _No longer the slender youth, he had become a solidly built man with a square flat face and a taste for fine clothing. A scantily clad girl clung to his arm. Jin Cheong was speaking on a cellphone, a semicircle of men waited on his command.

"No, I'm weighing anchor and getting away from this shit hole," he said after a while scratching at an earlobe. "That _vory _bitch was never here . . . found out that Balalaika was in Pattaya on holiday if you can believe Fryface actually taking time off . . . the business with my bar was a setup . . . probably that bastard Chang . . . What?"

Jin Cheong was silent. His face darkened with anger and he clenched his mouth so the muscles in his jaw stood out. Suddenly he flung the cellphone violently away. It flew across the room and shattered against the wall into pieces. He pushed aside the fearful girl and balled his fists together, breathing heavily.

"Ebony and Ivory," he gritted out. "They'll regret this."

He made a decision.

"Two boats, ten men," he barked. "We're going ashore. Now. It's not the Triads after all, just a family matter."

--

The old man closed the lid of the cellphone. "It is done. Jin Cheong is coming."

Chang nodded, gripping his hands together till the knuckles cracked.

The limousine was last in the line of dark sedans parked along the side of the road. The engines of the cars were idling, but all the lights were off. Chang sat in the rear of the limousine with the old man.

The old man sighed. "You loved Lijuan did you not?"

Chang looked down. "That was a long time ago. When she was alive. . . yes. But then, to find out what she was. It was too much. Perhaps our governments have forgotten, but we haven't. What happened in Shanghai cannot be forgiven should a thousand years pass. Perhaps if they had chosen a different path, but none of Yoshiko Kawashima's descendants have made amends. . . in any way."

The old man said: "Then the Triads will dispense justice. A sorry thing indeed."

"You are the one who has betrayed them," said Chang with a sneer. He shifted in the seat and adjusted his white silk scarf.

There was a little pause, then the old man asked: "If you had a daughter – and one day you found her hanging by the neck – and you knew it was because the ones you served with such loyalty had slaughtered her son for their little amusements. When you have suffered that, then talk to me about betrayal."

Chang grimaced unseen in the dark.

"I served them well," insisted the old man. "I was there the day they heard their Aunt was dead. I was the one who kept the three safe from harm till they could stand on their own – and for what? The destruction of my own family? Jin Cheong is a brute. Unimaginative and dismal of temperament. Lifeng is dangerously insane and evil. And then there is Liling. In some ways she is the worst, because she knows better – she allows herself to be used and protects that monster of a twin."

Chang rubbed his chin with the fingers of his right hand. "They are the last. You know how this ends."

"What of your own obligations?" asked the old man unexpectedly. "Regardless of what Lijuan was, should you not finish the job she started? This Chinese-American mongrel caused her death somehow. It is a matter of honor."

"Well," said Chang embarassed. "That's open to interpretation. After all the girl Revy's a protege of mine. Who would have thought we had such an interesting history? I certainly wouldn't have taken her under my tutelage those years ago if I had known she was Lijuan's killer."

Biu rapped on the window. Glad for the interruption, Chang rolled down the window and looked out.

"From what we can tell the entry is clear," said Biu, his hair slick and dripping in the rain. "The Lagoon girl took out the guards and went straight for the Nova. There was shooting, but it seems to have ended – how, and to whose advantage is unknown. Also, the cleaner is here."

Chang nodded. "Let's finish this. As for the cleaner, tell her it will be the usual fee. "

--

Rotton turned off the engine and the lights. Sawyer sat in the passenger side of the truck humming. She hummed by holding the ultravoice to her throat.

"**What... what would be the most horrible way to die?**" she asked, licking her blood red lips as they sat waiting. The rain beat on the windshield.

"I try very hard to avoid dieing," said Rotton curtly and without his usual flair. Sawyer had insisted that he ditch his trademark look and dress in surgical garb for the job. He felt like a fool. And this was certainly a job that did not meet up to his usual _raison d'etre_.

"**Ehhh... well for me, the worst way would be... to have the ultravoice taken away... to be buried alive... and then the rats would come... no one would hear me as they start to..."**

"Hold on," Rotton interrupted. He dug in the overhead compartment. "Where did I... there they are."

"**... they would eat..."** Sawyer broke off and glared at Rotton with her sapphire blue eyes. **"What are you doing?"**

"Hand wipes," said Rotton vigorously scrubbing his hands. "If we're going to be moving a bunch of bodies I want to be clean – before and after."

Sawyer pulled the work goggles down with an emphatic snap of the elastic. **"Are you now... or have you ever been... a member of the boy scouts?"**

A figure moved out of the gloom in front of the truck and signaled them. Rotton recognized him immediately. It was Mr. Chang's right hand man Biu.

Sawyer pulled up the face mask.

"**I already have all the details,"** she said in her sterile augmented voice. **"We'll have all night and day... to do our work when they are done... The Triad will close off the entry road to Nhakon Ratch... Fingers need to be cut off... Teeth smashed... Personal effects destroyed... Bloodstains cleaned... Bodies bagged... It's not glamorous ... It's work... I'll take care of the specifics... just help with the heavy lifting****."**

Rotton blinked. It was the longest speech he had heard the gothic gamine make.

"**A cleaner comes... to the stage after the audience has left,"** said Sawyer reflectively. **"No one wants ... to experience our performance. But I always close the show."**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 – A Nun on the Wing**

Liling lurched against the wall and fell with a liquid curse. Revy's last blow had broken her nose and she tried to stop the flow of blood.

"My ankle... it's broken." Liling gurgled. "It hurts."

Lifeng tossed aside the leg of the chair she still held and then wiggled her fingers. They felt strangely nerveless. Revy lay sprawled motionless on the ground, the parts of the wooden chair scattered about.

Lifeng knelt down and placed her fingers against Revy's throat, after a moment she nodded.

The door crashed open and two men charged in, thin and wiry. They crouched over their guns with the barrels swinging wildly about. Lifeng shrieked at them, and they stopped in their tracks, straightening and looking about the charnel room with dull eyes. They had seen this type of slaughter before.

Lifeng gestured, and they came over to her. Their dull eyes suddenly blazed as they saw who lay at her feet. A savage smile crept over the dark face of the lead gunman.

"Dutchie's killer slut," he snarled. "If she's alive, then she ours. Like you promised."

Lifeng took in the men with her empty stare. "Not yet. I'm not done with her. I have to help my sister first. Take her across the hall."

The dacoits grinned and slung their guns over their shoulders. Then each took a foot and dragged Revy roughly out of the room. Revy's face slid against the worn carpeting, leaving a trail of blood.

"AAAaaagh!" Liling shrieked, rolling on the floor as the reality of pain set in. She grabbed at her ankle in a frenzy. She couldn't decide whether her ankle or her face hurt worse. "It really fucking hurts. _Tzao-gao_!"

Lifeng grimaced. The room offended her, she needed to get out. She stepped by her sister and picked up Revy's guns: the two Berettas and the Taurus. Her busy hands found room for the still smoldering cigarette butt that Agent 'Cooper' had dropped.

Liling dragged herself into a sitting position by Chulunn's corpse and glared as best she could with one eye swollen shut. She fumbled with a tissue and held it to her nose.

"If you had just taken the shot this morning, this wouldn't have happened. Look at me, look at my face! Chulunn would still be alive – crap! His legs are still twitching! We could have been out of here. _Qu di yu! _Go to hell!"

Lifeng flinched. She swallowed and knelt by her sister. The albino bowed her head low, the items carefully cradled in her arms. The white hair touched the floor.

"I am sorry," she said contritely. "After this I will no longer be a burden for you. I've held you to your promise and in fifteen minutes or so you will be free. I know it's what you want."

"What do you mean?" gasped Liling as she touched her ankle.

"I'm serious, I am staying here," said Lifeng, her head still bowed. "Eventually they will find a way to get me in Haidho for the children I killed - you won't be able to protect me. But here in Roanapur, this city of shadows and lost souls, I am among my own kind. And after tonight I will be feared and respected."

"You can't be serious," said Liling. "You can't even take care of yourself – much less survive. They'll eat you up."

Lifeng looked up, her red eyes gleamed. "Oh, I don't think so. Lili... I've been lying to you for so very long. While you were reading Hong Kong magazines when we were kids in that crappy old house, I was reading the old books left over from the American Ambassador. One of those books was _I, Claudius. _I'm definitely not right in the head, but I'm NOT that kind of sick."

She giggled as Liling stared at her from the one open eye with a certain amount of fear, "Brother Cheong certainly fell for it. I would stammer and cut myself and drool around him and he thought I was such an idiot. _'Dumb as Ivory'_... HA! Such a retard of a sister who certainly had no clue what the security codes were for. Just the ones for the Swiss bank accounts where the gold of Shanghai waits. We may not have had Re-BEC-ca eliminate brother tonight, but we got enough."

Lifeng rolled Revy's name with a sneer as she said it.

"_Tzao-gao!" _said Liling shaking her black mane, the pain overcome by the wonder of the revelation. "Who are you?"

"I'm everything you've tried to deny," said the albino her hard eyes glittering. "Hold on one second."

Lifeng put down the pile of guns and unclipped the PMR unit from her belt. "Report now, what's going on?"

The responding voice was indistinct. Lifeng's face tensed and her shoulders rose. She nodded briskly.

"I need to know the moment they move," she barked.

"We don't have much time -- like you feared," she said to her sister. "The lookout on the rooftop can just barely see the other side of the causeway. There's a line of cars just waiting there. Could be the Russians, could be Chang – either way we can't be here much longer. I got an escape launch ready. The weather works for us."

Lifeng helped Liling off the floor and supported her. "We better go stop those _liúmáng, _they're probably trying to rape the crap out of that creature and can't decide which hole to start with. Not that I care, but they can wait their turn..."

"Are we going to kill Revy now?" mumbled Liling wiping away the blood. "I guess feeding her to the sharks is out..."

"Let me just get these guns, we'll each keep a Beretta as a trophy of tonight's triumph," said Lifeng rapidly. "There's something better than death for her. She'll wish we had gone fishing. "

--

Eda stared back at the lights of the city and tried not to worry too much about her stomach. Through the mist, Roanapur was a blurry miasma above the swells. Kiwi Ken's stolen winch boat crashed and bounced on the waves, driven maniacally by Bao. The owner of the Yellow Flag was enjoying himself way too much she decided.

"We're going to go directly at that yacht of his," shouted Dutch pointing at the blazing outline of Cheong's boat, the yacht was lit up from port to stern with lights. "Then we'll sweep away and run you and Rock up to the full length of the rope – I think it's 500 feet. I'll give you the call, and then you better hope you're in good with the carpenter from Galilee."

Eda grimaced and adjusted the earpiece, "Testing, testing, yeah it's good Dutch. Oi, sailor boy! Don't bother with that, we're not concerned about safety tonight. Just get in the goddamn harness. If it comes to swimming we're screwed - no point prolonging the agony."

Rock dropped the life vest with one hand and held on to the railing as the boat careened about. He jerked his head at Dutch who was preparing the parasail. "Are you sure there isn't a better way?"

"Your idea sucked," bawled Eda. "If we go in the land route, we get shot up before we get to the buildings. If Bao drives the boat in we have to go past that floating palace of Cheong's – and believe you me he's got weaponry and manpower. So we're gonna go airborne."

Rock finished strapping himself into the harness assembly, "Then I got only one problem with this."

"What's that," Eda shouted.

"We'll be the wrong way!" Rock shouted back leaning in close so she could hear. "Usually parasailer get dragged along by the boat, we're going to get dragged by the wind – shouldn't we face away from the boat when we go?"

"Right, good point!" Eda was surprised she hadn't thought of that. It wasn't like they were going to have any control over the damn thing once they were up in the air. There were steering lines on the chute, but the whole business was as improbable as a Doug Flutie touchdown pass.

"Stay in touch," shouted Dutch. "If the situation gets out of hand, I'll come in to shore whatever the situation. If we're gonna pull an Alamo – then we'll do it together."

Rock slithered onto the flight deck, Eda followed and sat down beside him – they hooked themselves up to the lines. Bao began the turn.

"Why are you helping?" Rock said turning his head, his mouth beside her ear – the one without the radio earpiece. "You wouldn't help if there wasn't something in this for you?"

Eda thought guiltily about the scrap of paper safely secreted away. The one with Revy's handwriting – barely enough to be called evidence.

"Because..." Dutch released the canopy and the two jerked into the air.

--

The came in fast on Nakhon Ratch. Eda's fear that they would sail right over the peninsula proved groundless. The big problem was whether they would make it at all as they descended far more rapidly than she had anticipated.

They couldn't talk over the gusting wind. It was just as well, Eda tapped Rock's shoulder and he nodded. There were two boats pulled up to the beach and figures could be made out on the beachfront by the Nova.

Eda pulled hard on the toggle and they swooped in to the right. She was aiming for the rooftop of the Nova. They barely cleared the building's edge and their feet touched down. However, the parasail billowed in front of them and pulled them along despite their best efforts. Rock scrabbled for the harness clips and freed himself just in time to trip over a duct. He face planted into the tar paper with a grunt.

"Damn, damn, son of a bitch!" Eda flailed at her harness and went tumbling and flailing along the width behind the gusting para sail. Directly in the nun's path was a lone man watching over the parking lot and approach to the building. He turned about raising a rifle to be enveloped by the canopy. Eda caromed into the struggling figure and with a muffled shriek he toppled over the side.

Eda had slipped out of the harness before being pulled over the edge after the gunman. Panting she stood up with a triumphant grin and pulled down her habit.

"Best plan ever," the nun crowed. She spoke into the microphone of the radio earpiece. "Dutch -- can you hear me? We made it! C'mon Rock, don't just lay there gasping! Let's go save your girl!"

**Note: I finished it on time, so I'm posting ahead of my intended schedule. Enjoy.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 – Eastern Promises, Part One**

The layout was standard : a small entryway, the closet on the left with the bathroom on the right. Opening up into a small refurbished room with barren gray-white walls and a moldy ceiling. On the right was the queen sized bed flanked by two nightstands. The plastic sheeting covering the bed carefully tucked and tightened by the obsessive Lifeng.

On the left was a long dresser with a broken wall clock. In the corner was a shabby table with an office chair. At the far end of the room, the sliding door overlooked the rocky shoreline and crashing waves, invisible now in the evening. The room's sparse layout was reflected back from the rain-streaked glass by the flickering light fixtures.

The two men secured the unconscious young woman to the bed-frame, head to the base, feet to the front. They threw aside the empty holster rig and remaining boot. Lifeng had attached the handcuffs and shackles to the metal rails and it was merely a matter of stretching the slack limbs and snapping the hinges tight so Revy was spreadeagled and at their mercy. They looked at each other with feral eyes and uncontrollable smiles.

"Why wait?" said the taller of the two dacoits. A knife suddenly appeared in his hand. "She's practically naked anyway? Those two don't care if we get a head start..."

The knife slashed up the black tanktop, flicked down through the shorts at the hip. The second man tossed the fragments of clothing aside to the floor with eager, trembling hands.

"I'm first," snarled the taller man. He straddled Revy and fumbled at his belt. "Give her a head start on what she deserves..."

"Get. Off!" shrieked Lifeng. She stood in the shadow of the entryway supporting Liling who leaned against her. There was a clatter as she dropped the items she cradled in her free hand to her feet. The albino raised one of Revy's Beretta's and pointed it. "Now!"

Quickly the man did as he was told.

"How dare you?" snapped Lifeng, her finger twitching on the trigger. "She's ours. Now get out and get the boat ready. We'll be just a minute or two." Though she had expected them to behave this way, seeing the attempted rape of her prize infuriated her.

The two men stepped sullenly past them out of the room. Lifeng closed the door with a slam. She helped Liling to the side of the bed and then spun about.

There was a small gasp from Revy and her fingers suddenly twitched. Liling looked away.

"Men! They're slobs!" The albino darted about picking up Revy's discarded clothing. "Gyahh, this stuff reeks, what she'd do wade through garbage to get here?"

She flung the clothing into a pile on the floor of the open closet space. With the sole of her boot she pushed the two dropped guns up against the pile. Then with small, nasty smile she bent and fished out the cigarette butt she had retrieved from the other room.

"Lili, about thirty minutes north of here, there's a little resort town with a great restaurant." Lifeng said licking her lips. "We should go and celebrate afterwards."

"I'll pass," said Liling slowly. She reached into the bag by the side of the bed. "Can I use this?"

--

Her thoughts were slippery, sliding away into red and black lump of pain that throbbed and pulsed with the regularity of a hammer strike. There was a dim awareness of being pulled and then a heavy pressure against her chest that suddenly was released. Someone was shouting and nothing mattered.

Then suddenly everything was real as something intently hot and painful stabbed into her. Lifeng had lit the cigarette butt and thrust it up one her nostrils with a wet sizzle. Revy snapped her head about with a squeal as consciousness returned with the smell of tobacco, flesh and blood.

Panting, Revy stared up at the two women who sat on either side of her on the bed. The black haired one she knew as Lucy held a blood stained cloth to her nose with an expression that mixed dread and anticipation. The white haired albino whose smile stretched from ear to ear was twirling something metallic in one hand and pinching the smoldering remnant of the cigarette butt in the other.

Revy realized bleakly that these two were going to tear her to pieces. Revy had no illusions about what was about to happen. She accepted the reality; everyone broke, everyone screamed in the end. The Sword Cutlass specials had been her protection, a lethal charm -- and the guns had failed. If she had been a little slower a few weeks ago, Jumbo could have finished her off quickly with a thrust to the heart, not the leg -- and she could have been spared this degrading miserable end.

Still, Revy mustered her usual bravado. Maybe if she really pissed them off, they'd kill her quicker...

"A freak and the squeak," she slurred, glaring at them both. "Where the fuck d'ya get that costume from? A comic book convention? Are you perverts? Figures, you both look like perverts to me?

Lifeng blinked. "Is it speaking to us? Whatever. How typically American...this has nothing to do with sex."

"For couriers, the Lagoon Company certainly are a murderous bunch," The metal object in Lifeng's hand stopped spinning, and Revy saw that it was a scalpel. "Chen, Wu, Chulunn... not to mention some old friends of yours from Luak's gang. In the end though it didn't matter - Dutch dead. Benny dead. That earnestly dull man of yours, what was his name, Rock? Dead.... Oh, I'm sorry, did that hurt?"

"You killed _Ayi _Lijuan ten years ago and fouled up our lives," burst in Liling, lowering her head. "We're the Aisin Gioro twins, descendant of royalty - and because of you that insufferable brother of ours took over the family business and ruined our inheritance. Well, you know what they say? Payback's a bitch - and there's two of us."

Revy sneered and closed her eyes.

"She's not listening to me!" hissed Liling.

"Hold it's head," said Lifeng.

Lifeng spun the scalpel again, and then lowered it to Revy's face. Lifeng wasn't interested in plunging the blade into the eye. Instead with a flick of the wrist, she cut enough of the flesh on the eyelid to open a small cut that would bleed heavily - just enough of an implication to get Revy's attention. It did, with a deep intake of breath Revy tried twisting her head from Liling's grasp. She opened her eyes, blinking spastically to keep out the blood.

"Look at us when we speak to you, or I'll cut your eyelids off," Lifeng warned, her voice trembling with excitement. "You'll want to see this. I had it taken off that rusty old bridge."

Lifeng jerked the noose over Revy's head, tightened it around her bruised throat and pulled. Revy's legs began to jerk on the mattress, straining against the shackles. Her body moved in convulsive lunges. Her face went purple, eyes bulging. There was a anguished gurgle.

Lifeng let the rope go loose, smiled as Revy gasped air into her lungs. Her head flopped to the mattress.

"My sister wants her turn," said Lifeng gaily.

Liling's swollen face broke into a smile as she touched the prongs of a taser against Revy's.

Revy's body went entirely rigid as she spasmed, the flesh of her wrists and ankles tearing as she arced upward. Her mouth was open in a scream but nothing came out. It just went on and on.

Liling switched off the current and Revy sagged, shaking uncontrollably. Her body was soaking wet from her own perspiration and a mixture of tears, snot and blood rolled down her cheek.

"Oh fuck you, fuck you!" the words were barely audible as she forced them out. "Just fucking kill me already. Just fucking get on with it."

"No," said Liling. She touched the prongs again to Revy's flesh.

--

"What do you mean the door's locked?" said Eda. "You've got to be kidding. Dutch? Dutch! Can you hear me? We made it but we're stuck on the rooftop of the Nova. Don't do anything."

"No, it won't open," snarled Rock pulling at the handle. "That damn guard you kicked over the side must have had the key."

"Or maybe the idiot wasn't meant to get off..." murmured Eda. She strode over to the edge facing the ocean and peered down, raising a hand over her brow as a shield against the driving rain.

"Damn." Eda stepped back shaking her head. "We got company. A lot of company"

Rock pulled out the gun and stepped back, "I'll just shoot out the lock."

"NO! You idiot!" Eda snapped. "Holy Mary, mother of God. We just pulled off a miracle and you want to throw it all away? It's like breaking into a house and then banging the pots. We won't make it down the stairwell."

"But Revy's down there," protested Rock. The gun fell to his side.

"You don't know that," said Eda. "We wait. If and when all hell breaks loose, then we'll know Revy's here. Her idea of a plan is to kill faster than the other person. For now though, just keep the gun out of the rain."

--

"You should stop now," said Lifeng coolly, easing up on the rope. "Heart's probably about to blow."

"Why doesn't she scream? Is she that tough?" said Liling disappointed. She put the taser aside. The only sound was the rain pelting against the sliding door and Revy's coughs and gasps of agony.

"You can't," Lifeng replied. "All you can do is shake and crap yourself when you get tasered. Fortunately it hasn't done that."

Lifeng stood up and stretched, "I guess we still got some time left – nothing from the lookout yet. I'm bored. Lili, get the hacksaw and surgical tubing out."

She leaned over Revy and slapped her, "Hey, hey! None of that. Stay with us okay? Now, my sister and I had a promise that we'd feed you to the sharks out in the Gulf. It's not happening. You get to live if you can stand the shock of us cutting off your hands -- Two-hands -- They won't be calling you that anymore. Maybe they'll call you Stubs."

"_Tzao-gao,_" said Liling. She looked ill.

Lifeng giggled. "I know. Isn't it clever of me?"

"No, that's not... I mean," Liling stammered pointing.

Jin Cheong stood in the entryway.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 – Eastern Promises, Part Two**

Revy clenched her fists tightly, felt the fingernails dig in the palms. She still had them. She focused on Liling. The black haired woman's mouth hung open in surprise. On the right, the albino looked like the mouse in her mind had stopped running on the wheel. What was going on?

She rolled her head and looked towards the door at whomever the twins were staring at.

The man who stood in the doorway started clapping, exaggerating the swing in a mocking way. He was smiling, the smile did not reach the eyes. Shadows moved behind him, there were others with him.

Lifeng dropped the hacksaw.

"What the hell...c'mon in. Show's free," Revy mumbled. Her mouth was full of blood from her bitten tongue. No one heard.

"Don't stop on my account," said Jin Cheong adjusting his collar. "I had no idea the two of you were this... motivated. It really does run in the blood. Don't look so shocked - I know everything: Bombing my bar, shooting up the docks, getting into my accounts, setting up a phony meeting here with that Russian fry-face when I should be relaxing in Pattaya. All for a childish revenge scheme. Well done Ebony, well done Ivory."

"How?" whispered Liling.

"Fengrui, the family advisor," explained Cheong. "The useless old bastard was good for something after all -- no thanks to you Lifeng. I don't think he likes you."

The guns, her guns. Revy could just see the grip of one of the Sword Cutlass specials sticking out of the closet at Cheong's feet.

"This little thing took out Chulunn?" said Cheong stepping forward and pushing Lifeng aside. "You're Rebecca Two-hands? Not what I expected and not looking good." He reached into his jacket and took out a Sig Sauer P226.

Revy dimly registered that the hammer was not cocked, nor had Cheong drawn back the slide to chamber a round. She didn't flinch or blink as the barrel of the gun came down to rest between her eyes.

"Did you kill my aunt? Lijuan the Assassin, also known as Great White ten years ago?" he demanded.

"Yes," she said thickly.

"Do you want to live," he asked.

"Yes," Revy said.

Cheong pressed the cold barrel down hard. "Yes what?"

"Yes master."

Cheong chuckled. "Good girl. I couldn't stand my aunt. I'm glad you killed her."

Liling sighed. Lifeng burst into tears and crumpled to the floor. Cheong laughed and put the gun away. Gestured to those who stood behind in the hallway.

"I trust her about as much as I trust you two," Cheong said. He moved to one side as five of his men swarmed in the room. His face grew red and his voice rose. "You've put me out, but I can't go around killing my own family though at the moment -- it's not a bad idea."

He kicked Lifeng brutally in the ribs where she lay. The albino gave a shrill scream and scuttled away on hands and knees to the rear of the room. Liling lurched from the bedside and made it to the chair where she collapsed, one trembling hand raised to her mouth.

"Get her up," commanded Cheong harshly gesturing at Revy. "Keep her restrained, that one's dangerous. You, go round up the hired help – can't believe these two idiots didn't have someone on guard."

"I have the best ideas sometimes." he bellowed at the cowering twins. "I'll make something from this botch-up after all. Making her mine will be a constant reminder to you two dimwits never to cross me again. It'll also stick in that bastard Chang's craw. As far as that Russian bitch she works for – this will show them what happens when you can't protect my stuff. Not enough to piss them off and start a war, but enough to show them what happens to their associates. They don't need to know it was my damn sisters."

Revy lay limp keeping her eyes closed as she was released momentarily. She grunted as she was spun about and a knee driven into the small of her back. Her arms were pulled roughly behind her back and the handcuffs clicked. Even worse they were going to keep her feet shackled.

"I said get her up!" Cheong shouted. The men pulled her roughly...

--

... and I can't think worth shit. My thoughts are just blobby things of shivering snot, like some kinda retarded jello. The way these two guys are holding me tells me where this is going and they heave me on the floor at the motherfucker's feet.

Fuck, the carpet's opened up the cut, and I got blood drippin' in my eye again. I can hear them now -- the bastards – it'll be the talk of the town and the Yellow Flag for about a weekend – about how the bitch with the big mouth and the guns – well she just lay there with her naked ass in the air and cried for mercy. And they'll smile and they'll laugh and forget me won't they?

Cheong's laughing – he's kicking miss snowflake who's stuffed in that black leather outfit like a sausage about to burst. And all those shit ass thugs are looking at me. Let them see what they want to see, They don't deserve to live if that's all they trust in.

I gotta do somethin' – anything -- or he's gonna throw me to them once he's done kickin' the dumb ass sister...

--

Jin Cheong grinned, "Ah hell with it, let's get out of here." He swung round and grabbed a handful of Revy's unkempt hair and shook her head roughly. He looked at his men. "She's all yours."

"What'sa matter?" slurred Revy. She looked up with a shaky sneer. "Can't get it up can ya? Is my new master a limp dick?"

Cheong froze, his hand clawed into her scalp. There was silence in the room.

"What? You're gonna do me after they do? Nothing like ... aaaack!"

Cheong gripped the end of the noose still around her neck. He pulled Revy by the bed and to the bathroom as the men shifted out of the way. She was dragged gasping and choking by the bed, to the entrance of the bathroom. The guns within inches away. They were so close, so unattainable.

"I'll be a moment," said Cheong coldly. He heaved Revy in with a thud and stepped inside "Get the boats ready."

The door closed.

"Almost done," whispered Liling.

--

Jin Cheong flushed the toilet and took his time washing his hands. "I feel any teeth and Ebs and Ivory get to go fishing," he said jovially. He turned and looked stared down where she lay on the tiled floor.

Hard to believe the infamous Rebecca Two-Hands was at his mercy. Even with the blood, bruises and burns from the taser she was pretty in a filthy way. That she was handcuffed, shackled and wide eyed with apparent fear made the moment more delicious. The man grinned and fumbled at his pants.

"Come here girl," he said. Revy shook her head, panting heavily and slid towards the corner. The wall was on one side, the closed door on the other as she inched into a sitting position.

"It's not like you're going anywhere," he jeered and lifted both his hands up. Revy awkwardly swung her legs beneath and placed the flats of her bare soles against the wall.

He leaned forward, the palms of his hands gripping the side of her head like a vise and pulling it back. Revy let her mouth open. "You're too damn low," Cheong grunted and started to lift Revy up onto her knees. The man twisted his neck and rocked back on his heels.

Revy lunged with no warning, drove up into the exposed neck. She sank her teeth into the windpipe of his throat. The trachea of a human is tough and flexible but she felt it give way as she bit down. The man had already been leaning back but now too late his startle reflex made the man recoil away from the unexpected assault.

For a moment they were off the floor, Revy extended straight as an arrow her mouth buried in his throat. Then they smashed into the toilet, the back of Jin Cheong's head breaking the rim of the seat with a crash. The impact rolled Revy over the man, pinned her against against his thrashing body and the panels of the sink counter.

Revy released her bite and spit out skin and gristle. Jin Cheong was still conscious, blood gushing from his torn scalp. He was trying to sit up, pushing Revy away. Any moment now his men would break down the door and see the two pumping at each other like sadistic lovers. The man's mouth was moving, but nothing came out.

"No, god, fuck no!" it burst from her battered throat finally, not as a shout – but as a cry and realized it's worth. "Please, oh god, no, don't hurt me..."

Cheong almost grasped the end of the noose, but Revy spun on her shoulder on the now wet floor and threw her hips and legs over his chest. Bracing her back against the panels of the sink counter she ground the chain of the leg shackles tight against his crushed larynx, Revy straightened her legs and pushed as hard as she could, pinning him.

Jin Cheong's face was turning purple. His hands clawed at her thighs as he thrashed desperately as she bore down with the pressure.

There was madness blazing in Revy's bloodshot eyes and her lips were drawn up over her teeth, nostrils flaring. Still the screams kept tumbling out.

"AAAAAAgh! It hurts, it hurts, please no master..."

--

Liling shuddered. There had been a minute of silence and then a horrific crashes and thuds followed by pathetic wails of distress. Whatever older brother was doing, it was causing greater agony to the Lagoon girl than anything the twins had done. All the resolve and hate drained away to be replaced by a familiar sympathy. My brother's hurt you now also, she thought dully and stood up favoring the injured ankle.

The men were shouting and laughing in approval. She hobbled over to the sobbing Lifeng huddled on the floor. "We have to go, let's go to the boats. It's over."

Lifeng stared at her and gulped, "He's taking it all away from me. My dreams, my..."

"Shut up," said Liling bitterly. She bent over and then threw herself to the floor beside Lifeng. Outside on the porch facing the beach, a shadow had moved up to the glass sliding door. She saw a gun being raised.

A spray of bullets raked the room from end to end blowing the sliding door into a thousand glistening fragments. There were screams. Liling pressed against the floor for all she was worth and held Lifeng down. The exposed side of her face stung from the spray of glass splinters.

"Follow me! Crawl damn you!" she screamed as the plaster and debris rained down on them. Cheong's gunmen belatedly returned fire, the noise was deafening. The attacker fell through the remnants of the door, impaled on the shards of glass jutting up from the frame. There were others out there on the porch.

The room went abruptly black, either the light fixtures had been shot out or turned off, then the strobe like muzzle blasts of gunfire lit the room. "Go for the hallway, we'll grab her guns."

--

"That's our signal!" Eda shot out the lock and kicked the door open. "Move it Rock! Don't shoot me in the back or anything stupid. Dutch! We're going in!"

"I don't think that's Revy." shouted Rock running over from the edge. "A whole bunch of cars just pulled in the parking lot – I recognized Biu..."

"It doesn't matter, move!"

--

"Time, I'm outta time," whined Revy. The barrage of gunfire was hardly impeded by the thin walls – fragments of tile and shards of mirror from the cabinet rained down upon Cheong and Revy.

Cheong's hands slid limply down her calves. His head lolled back. Revy convulsively pulled her knees to her stomach, curling as tightly as she could manage in the enclosed space. With a grunt she thrust her restrained arms down past her buttocks – the steel edges of the cuffs carving a bloody gash. Then she was pulling the handcuffed wrists below her feet and her hands were in front. Immediately she got the noose off and flung it aside.

The light blinked and died. She was in the dark.

Revy rolled over Cheong and fell against the closed door. She reached up for the door-knob and fumbled at it. Her hands were slick and shaking with the effort. Spit and phlegm dripped from her mouth "I'm not gonna make it..."

She opened the door.

--

The twins scuttled between the bed and dresser towards the entry and the motel hallway. Two of Cheong's gunmen were down impeding their escape. Liling pushed Lifeng over the bodies and then flattened as bullets snapped into the dresser. Cheong's remaining three were crouched behind the mattress shooting back at the attacker.

"I got one!" cried out Lifeng shrilly. She scrambled ahead. Heedlessly she stood up and bolted out the room into the lit hallway, one of Revy's guns in hand. Lifeng was gone.

"Wait for me!"Liling wailed. Liling flung herself over the dead men to the open closet. She scrabbled for a gun, any gun, throwing aside Revy's torn clothing. Her hand wrapped around the grip of a Beretta as Revy came down upon her.

--

Eda jacked the trigger four times from the landing and then charged down the steps. Rock followed close behind. The sound was deafening in the enclosed stairwell. The two men below dropped.

At the bottom of the stairwell Eda stopped and straddled the fallen opponents. One couldn't afford to be too careful, if they were pumped on coke or _ya ba_. The nun put a shot into each head "Mozambique" style. Unknown to Eda she had taken out the last of Luak's marauders.

Rock took the lead. He had been through enough the last year that he could fake a calm he certainly didn't feel. He flung open the steel fire door and stepped through into the main corridor of the motel to confront the worst possible sight one could come up against in Roanapur. An enraged woman in black leather was running at full speed towards him. The albino from the G Spot cafe.

The gun in the albino's hand lifted and she fired. Flinching away and shouting, Rock stabbed out the gun with one hand and he felt it kick and buck. He kept squeezing the trigger. Their shots blended together fast and wild. Then Rock's gun locked dry. Surprised he dared to look.

The woman stood barely five feet in front staring at him with a stunned look of disbelief. She appeared to be unharmed. Rock realized he also was untouched. A small cloud of gun smoke drifted in the space between them and the walls of the hallway were scored with bullet holes. It was an awkward moment.

A Glock was thrust between Rock's legs where he stood. It was Eda coming up fast behind him from a sideways roll and she shot the albino twice in the chest.

Lifeng gasped. She lurched sideways against the wall and slid slowly down before toppling forward with a thud, the white hair covering her face at the last moment. Then she was an inert object in a spreading pool of red.

"Without a doubt, the worst spray and pray I have ever seen," said Eda breathlessly. She stood up, so close she was leaning up against Rock shaking back. The nun peered around his shoulder. "Shooting isn't your idiom is it? Oh shit, that's the monkey's gun she's got..."

--

Liling and Revy wrestled for the remaining Sword Cutlass. They were fighting within arm's reach of the Cheong's remaining bodyguards barricaded behind the bed. The men were barely visible as shadows, their heads whipped about in alarm.

Liling was tiring. Revy had leverage and with both hands twisted the barrel towards the nearest as Liling pressed the trigger. The man crumpled as blood and brain parts sprayed over his comrades.

"Shoot her, shoot her," Liling sobbed. Revy slid her hands down and corkscrewed the gun out of Liling's grasp, breaking her thumb as she tore it away.

The two remaing men desperately tried to bring their weapons to bear. There were two flashes of blinding light, the two shots crashing in the enclosed area as Revy dropped them both with dreadful accuracy.

Liling squirmed away, sliding over the wet sticky bodies of the fallen away from Revy. How could they have failed so badly? Minutes ago they had toyed with their captive and now there was but stench and filth and failure. The light flickered back on at the worst moment. There was a silence.

"_Tzao gao," _moaned Liling. She stood up slowly and turned to face Revy. Raised her hands in defeat. "I give up. Mercy."

"No," replied the killer in a cold flat voice. Revy twisted on the floor and swung the gun around.

The last leaf fell from the tree. Liling closed her eyes.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – Loose Ends**

"Stay here," ordered Eda. "You'll get in the way. If you see anyone coming, duck into a room and stay down."

"Okay," said Rock. He was feeling lightheaded and leaned up against the corridor wall. He couldn't relax or drop his guard yet, there was still some scattered shooting going on outside in the parking lot. Mr. Chang's men were in the process of overwhelming the remaining Sarkhanese bodyguards.

Eda led with the gun and went in through the open door.

The room was a shambles. It smelt of blood and excrement. A pile of bodies blocked the entry way and the carpet squished beneath her shoes as she stepped in cautiously. She checked the bathroom and grimaced. The air was thick with a haze of plaster dust and smoke.

Revy had pulled herself up onto the bed, rocking slowly back and forth, arms wrapped around her knees. She didn't look up. A Cutlass Special dangled loosely from her hands.

The nun licked her lips and looked around. There were two more bodies in the space between the bed and the wall. On the far side a woman lay sprawled on her back, still and dead. Another body, one of Chang's men lay slumped in the frame of the blown out sliding door and there appeared to be more corpses on the porch.

Eda nodded, went back to the door and looked out at Rock. He looked up dazed. The encounter with Lifeng had been more traumatic than he could have imagined and with the day's earlier events he was exhausted.

"Be a dear and negotiate with Mr. Chang," she said briskly. "We'll be a second."

Before Rock could protest she closed the door firmly.

Eda went back and sat down by Revy. She lit a cigarette and lifted Revy's slumped head and slid the cigarette in between her lips. The Chinese woman's face and neck were a welter of blood and bruises. The pupils of her eyes were dilated.

"You're gonna lose your looks if you keep this up," Eda said. "What's your name? How many fingers am I holding up?"

Revy stirred, and lifted a hand. Extended her middle finger.

"You're doing great," said Eda encouragingly. "You'll be better in no time! So what was this all about anyway? Who's this Lijuan character they were all so excited about?"

"Never heard of the guy," the whisper was barely audible. Eda rolled her eyes.

"Rock's alive you know," said Eda. "That wasn't him back at the bar, you should have looked closer before going off all half-cocked. He's been trying to rescue you, if you can believe it."

There was a pause and then Revy blinked. "When you side with someone you stay with them. Son of a bitch... he did."

"I'll get him later," said Eda. "So what was this all about anyway?"

Revy looked around with an effort. She rattled the handcuffs. "Don't let him see me. Not like this. Get these damn things off me first. And where the hell are my clothes?"

Her head slumped. "I'm so tired," she said. With that Revy rolled over and with a sigh finally passed out.

Eda shrugged. As long as Revy didn't or wouldn't admit her involvement in murders in the United States, there was no point pursuing the matter.

There was a banging on the door and voices shouting. Eda got up and swung the door open, the gun held ready. Mr. Chang surrounded by armed men stared at her with dislike. Rock stood apart with a look of alarm.

"You're trespassing," Chang said finally. "Is Two-hands here? I need to speak to her?"

"She's not taking appointments," said Eda, her attempt at a smile curdling. Chang frowned and there was a rattle of guns being prepared. "Hey, hold on. Tell you what – I need to borrow your overcoat."

Chang removed his glasses. "Excuse me?"

"You'll get it back," said Eda hastily. A drop of perspiration rolled down her cheek. "It's an emergency."

Chang shrugged, "Okay then." He handed the overcoat over, "But this..."

She slammed the door in their faces. A few moments she was back. "Yeah, come on in, walk on in. Rock, be a man. Revy needs a lift. She's such a girl..."

Chang held back, motioned to Biu. "The old man in my car, take care of that one. I can't abide traitors, no matter their motivation. Let's be done with these Sarkhanese filth once and for all."

"Yes, Chan _da ge."_

--

"We need to get out of here," said Eda urgently to Dutch who met them on the beach, the winch boat anchored at a small pier. Rock followed behind with Revy held carefully in his arms. She was wrapped in the overcoat. "Chang's really testy. Something about this is personal. But he's going to straighten things out with Chief Watsup for chinglish here. And I got her guns and boots. Wasn't worth bothering with the other stuff."

Dutch stepped in front of the nun. "Hand it over," he rumbled. "I saw you pick it up on the dock."

Defeated Eda handed the scrap of paper over, "Hell, it's just a list..."

"I've seen your type before," said Dutch flatly. "The Church of Violence in Chau Doc in '70. Operation Phoenix. The Lagoon Company appreciates your help, but don't push it."

The wind took the scrap and blew it away.

--

Several hours past midnight. The sole vehicle in the parking lot of the Nova was the U.G. Pork van.

"Xianyu, how I should not have shunned her," babbled Rotton kneeling beside the now cold body of Liling. "I cast the damsel aside, her rosy lips to smile nevermore. A passion lost to the tides of fortune. Oh..."

"**..Whatever..." **said Sawyer apathetically. She pulled the cord on the chainsaw to drown out whatever else the Wizard would say.

**The End**


End file.
